Bats Bash Their Way To 9-4 Opening Night Win

The Louisville Bats used the big fly to storm ahead early and never looked back on Friday night, defeating the Memphis Redbirds 9-4 in front of 5,423 on Opening Night at Louisville Slugger Field.

Getting his first career Opening Night nod, Bats righty Randy Wynne got off to a strong start, erasing a leadoff single with an inning-ending double play for a scoreless first frame. The Bats immediately got their starter support in the bottom of the frame. Facing Memphis starter Michael McGreevy (L, 0-1), Will Benson connected on a towering 416-foot home run over the Miller Time Taphouse in right-center field for the first Bats run of the season.

Wynne breezed through a clean second and worked around a one-out double in the third. He began the season with a scoreless start, firing three innings while giving up two hits without a strikeout or a walk. Sam Benschoter was first out of the Bats bullpen and worked a quick fourth.

Louisville began to break the game open in the bottom of the frame. Benson singled and Edwin Rios walked to put two on with one out. Rece Hinds followed by crushing McGreevy’s 1-1 offering 410 feet over the center field fence for a three-run homer, his first of the year to make it 4-0. After Benschoter struck out a pair in a clean fifth, Tyler Callihan got in on the home run fun with a line drive homer into the right field stands that left his bat at 109.9 miles per hour, extending the lead to 5-0 after five.

Memphis finally broke through against Benschoter in the sixth with a pair of RBI singles, bringing an end to Benschoter’s evening with runners on first and third and two outs. With the tying run at the plate, Lenny Torres (W, 1-0) was called on to make his Triple-A debut and induced a fly out from Jose Barrero, preserving the Louisville lead at 5-2.

The Bats immediately got the two runs back. Noelvi Marte began the frame with his second double of the night. Hinds walked to put two on. P.J. Higgins cashed in with a double to deep left field, bringing both runners home to restore the five-run advantage at 7-2.

Torres struck out two more Redbirds in the seventh. Rios added to the lead with an RBI single to score Levi Jordan, who reached with a single of his own earlier in the inning.

In the eighth, Jimmy Crooks doubled the Redbirds’ total with a two-run homer off Yosver Zulueta, cutting the Louisville lead to 8-4. Davis Wendzel capped the scoring for the home team by doubling and coming home on a wild pitch.

Zach Maxwell entered in the ninth and wrapped up the Opening Night win, the Bats’ second straight win to begin a season.

Offensively, eight of the nine Louisville starters recorded at least one hit in the win. Benson led the way by going 3-for-5 with a home run and two runs scored. Marte went 3-for-4 with two doubles while Hinds was 2-for-3 with the three-run homer. Torres would earn his first Triple-A win with 1.1 scoreless frames.

The Bats (1-0) and Redbirds (0-1) continue their series with a 2:05 p.m. matchup on Saturday afternoon at Louisville Slugger Field. Nick Curran and Jim Kelch will be on the call for Sports Talk 790 AM.