Five Homers Fuel Omaha’s 8-1 Win

PAPILLION, NEB. – The Omaha Storm Chasers forced a series split with the Indianapolis Indians, as a season-high five home runs and dominant pitching led to Omaha’s largest winning margin of the season, 8-1.

Omaha scored two runs in the first and stayed ahead for the rest of the game. Nick Loftin and MJ Melendez hit back-to-back solo home runs, a first for the Storm Chasers this season.

In the top of the second, Omaha starter Luinder Avila preserved the 2-0 lead, striking out his first batter of the game. The Indians left a runner stranded for the second inning in a row.

After a 1-2-3 inning from Avila, the Storm Chasers strung together two more runs in the third. Nick Pratto singled and advanced to second on a throwing error, then scored on John Rave’s fourth triple of the season. Payton Wilson drew a walk, placing runners on the corners. The second run of the inning came after Loftin grounded into a double play, scoring Rave for a 4-0 lead.

In the bottom of the fourth, Omaha added its third solo home run of the game. This time, an opposite-field shot from Harold Castro, his fourth home run of the season increased the Chasers’ 5-0 lead.

Avila threw five scoreless innings before Indianapolis struck back, scoring their first run of the afternoon on an RBI single. Despite giving up a run, Avila earned his second quality start of the season, allowing just the one over 6.0 innings.

Andrew Hoffmann took over for Avila in the seventh, pitching the third 1-2-3 inning of the game, striking out a pair of Indians in the process. In the bottom of the inning, Tyler Gentry singled, and Dairon Blanco came in to pinch run at first. Nelson Velázquez launched a two-run homer and Rave followed up with a solo shot of his own, marking the Storm Chaser’s fourth and fifth home runs of the afternoon.

Jonathan Bowlan inherited a runner from Hoffmann when he took the mound in the eighth, but quickly got the final out of the inning. Bowlan allowed a leadoff baserunner in the top of the ninth but went on to strike his next three, sealing Omaha’s win and forcing a series split with the Indians. The final score of 8-1, a seven-run advantage, marks the Storm Chasers’ largest winning margin of the season.

The Chasers did not leave any runners on base in the win, for just the second time in modern Omaha history (since 2005), after also doing so August 21, 2014 at Tacoma.

After an off day on Monday, Omaha returns to action in Louisville on Tuesday. First pitch is set for 5:05 pm CT at Louisville Slugger Field.