Explosive sixth gives Mud Hens 13-4 victory over Bats

TOLEDO, OH - The Toledo Mud Hens demolished the Louisville bats 14-3 as their offense got red hot. The Bats kept things close early and even took a lead, but the Hens came storming back with an explosive sixth inning.

The Mud Hens would have their work cut out for them with MLB Veteran Wade Miley on the mound. The lefty worked quickly, paying no mind to the pitch clock and keeping batters on their toes.

Toledo would piece together a two-out rally in the bottom of the third to take an early 1-0 lead. Walks from Brian Serven and Hao-Yu Lee put the Hens in scoring position and brought Jace Jung to the plate. Jung would be credited with his thirteenth RBI of the season with base hit to right field.

Louisville wasted no time evening things back up as Francisco Urbaez led off the fourth inning with a triple off the center-field wall. Christian Encarnacion-Strand then brought in the tying run with an RBI single to left field. Lael Lockhart would get some help on a double play and then closed the inning with a flyout to keep it 1-1.

The Mud Hens would retake the lead in the bottom of the fourth as Ryan Kreidler hit a ground rule double, before Bligh Madris brought him in with a single to the left-center gap.

With a 2-1 lead, Toledo moved from Lockhart on to Ricky Vanasco with one out and runners on first and second. Vanasco battled, but couldn’t prevent the Bats from scoring.

Encarnacion-Strand tied things up with a double over the head of Parker Meadows in center field, tying the game 2-2. Louisville then took the 3-2 lead as Urbaez sored on a wild pitch.

In the sixth inning, the Hens really took over on offense. With Brewer Hicklen aboard following a walk, Kreidler joined him with a base hit. That brought Madris back to the plate and he did not disappoint. He earned his tenth double of the season and cleared the bases to give Toledo the 4-3 lead.

Things didn’t stop there though as the Mud Hens seemed to get into the head of Joe La Sorsa who replaced Sam Benschoter following a Serven walk. La Sorsa’s campaign was short-lived as he picked up a strikeout and three walks to put Toledo ahead 6-3. Louisville would be forced to go to their third pitcher of the inning as they brought out Alan Busenitz.

Busenitz wouldn’t fare any better as Hicklen hit a two-out grand slam to make it 10-3. Hicklen’s grand slam was absolutely crushed, traveling an estimated 456 ft. The bleeding didn’t stop there though as Kreidler hit a triple before Madris brought him in with his second home run in two games to make it 12-3. The ten-run inning would go down as the Mud Hens’ fourth since 2005 and the first since 2016.

Just in case their 12-3 lead wasn’t enough, the Mud Hens tacked on an insurance run in the eighth inning. Madris reached with his fourth hit of the game, before Serven made it 13-3 with an RBI double that bounced around in right field.

Brendan White would be given the closing duties, re-emerging following his four-batter eighth inning. White allowed two to get on base, which Louisville took advantage of making it 13-4 with an RBI groundout off the bat of David Wendzel. Unable to get the final out, Gabe Alvarez opted to bring out Ryan Miller. Miller swiftly shut things down to make the 13-4 victory official.

The Toledo Mud Hens and the Louisville Bats will face off again Saturday at 7:05 p.m.

Notables:

• Bligh Madris (4-5 HR, 2B, 5 RBI, 3 R)
• Brewer Hicklen (2-4, HR, 2B, 4 RBI, 2 R, BB)
• Ryan Kreidler (3-5, 3B, 2B, 3 R)
• Jace Jung (3-4, 2 RBI, R, BB, K)