Bats Swept in Doubleheader Against St. Paul

The Louisville Bats were swept in doubleheader action, losing 11-3 and 7-0, respectively, to the St. Paul Saints at CHS Field Saturday night.

The Saints struck early in game one with a pair of doubles to jump out to an early lead on Bats' starter Julian Aguiar (L, 2-5). A single by Aaron Sabato and Cody Morrissette gave some extra cushion, providing a 3-0 lead to open the first inning. Adding insult to injury, the bases became loaded, and Pat Kelly made his way out to the mound to make a call to his bullpen. Aguiar only managed two outs before he was pulled, allowing four runs on four hits.

Relief man Sam Benschoter walked in a run from the bases-loaded jam, which counted towards Aguiar, and got out of the inning shortly after, giving St. Paul a very early 4-0 lead.

Frustration boiled over at the bottom of the third, as Pat Kelly argued a check swing call that led to his ejection from game one. It is the first time the Bats have had an ejection this year.

Sam Haggerty got the Bats on the board in the fifth, blasting his first home run of the year to cut the lead down to 4-1.

St. Paul starter Ryan Gallagher (W, 3-4) exited the game in the top of the sixth. The righty dished out 5.0 innings of work while giving up one run on four hits. With his exit, the Louisville offense finally made another splash with Will Benson launching his first homer of the season. The two-run shot put Louisville within striking distance late, only trailing 4-3.

Just when the Bats were beginning to mount some momentum, St. Paul put up seven runs in the bottom half of the sixth to extend their lead. That seven spot was capped off by a David Banuelos homer that extended the Saints' lead out to 11-3.

It would be a one-two-three seventh for Louisville, and the Bats dropped game one 11-3. While there were not a lot of bright spots for Louisville, Luis Mey provided some quality pitching, allowing only one baserunner via walk in 2.0 innings of work.

Game two saw similar results as game one for the Bats.

Louisville took the field in game two as the home team, in an odd sight for Saints fans. This is due to a rainout that occurred in Louisville earlier in the year, a game that cannot be made up at Slugger Field because the two teams do not face one another in Louisville for the rest of the season.

Davis Daniel (L, 5-8) took the bump for the Bats to start game two and worked a quick scoreless inning.

Both teams were struggling to put runners on base in game two, with just three total hits between the two going into the fourth inning.

Although the second game did not see a lot of offense, the pitching and defense were on full display until the top of the fifth, where St. Paul’s Matt Wallner hit an RBI single to put the Saints out in front late into the game, 1-0.

Louisville threatened in their half of the fifth, loading the bases with one out. However, that trip did not result in a scoring effort, keeping the Bats scoreless through five.

St. Paul’s offense, however, seemed to wake up in the late stages. With two runners getting on to start the sixth, Louisville looked to their bullpen for the first time in game two. Daniel exited the game with 5.1 innings under his belt, allowing three runs on seven hits while striking out seven.

Zach Maxwell entered as the only pitcher who has not pitched in the series. He gave up six runs in 0.1 innings, two of which counted to Daniel, and the Saints extended their lead to 7-0. From there, position player Sam Haggerty made a pitching appearance and ended the inning in one pitch.

A quick one-two-three seventh on both sides put game two to a close, as the Bats are shut out by the Saints 7-0. C.J. Culpepper (W, 2-2) took home the win for St. Paul, going 1.1 innings and allowing one hit.

The Bats (47-46) continue their series with the Saints (53-41) Sunday afternoon. First pitch is set for 3:07 p.m. EST on Sunday at CHS Field. Nick Curran will be on the call on Sports Talk 790.