Chasers Drop Third Straight to Iowa

PAPILLION, NEB. – The Omaha Storm Chasers were defeated 8-5 by the Iowa Cubs Thursday night, dropping their third straight game in the series.

Henry Williams started the game for Omaha, throwing a scoreless 1st inning. In the 2nd, Iowa took a 2-0 lead after two walks, two hits and a sacrifice fly, though Williams went on to throw a 1-2-3 inning in the 3rd. Left-hander Nate Ackenhausen relieved Williams in the top of the 4th, inheriting three of Williams’s base runners. Iowa jumped to an 8-0 lead after a single, walked-in runner, and a grand slam. Williams was charged with 5 runs in 3.0 innings of work, while Ackenahusen was responsible for the final 3 runs of the 6-run 4^th inning.

Omaha plated its first runs since Sunday in the bottom of the 5th inning. Dairon Blanco singled, Nick Pratto reached on a fielding error, and Diego Castillo doubled, plating Blanco for an 8-1 score. Tyler Tolbert followed with a 3-run home run, cutting the deficit to 8-4.

Ryan Hendrix took the mound for the 6th and 7th innings, striking out six of the nine batters he faced for 2.0 scoreless innings. Jacob Wallace relieved Hendrix and threw a 1-2-3 8th inning with 2 strikeouts.

The Storm Chasers scored another run in the bottom of the 8th. MJ Melendez reached on a fielding error, Luke Maile walked, and a balk advanced the runners to second and third. Cavan Biggio hit into a run-scoring groundout that plated Melendez and put the score at 8-5, still in favor of Iowa.

Stephen Nogosek replaced Hendrix and pitched a scoreless 9th inning, but the Chasers failed to plate any more runs and the 8-5 score held to be final.

The Storm Chasers return to action with a doubleheader Friday at 5:05 p.m. CT at Werner Park. The second game will follow approximately 30 minutes after the completion of the first and both games will be 7-inning contests. Right-hander Chandler Champlain is scheduled to start the first game.