Hernández pitches into the seventh to lift Omaha over Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Omaha Storm Chasers (24-23) win on get-out day and earn a series split with a 11-1 win over the Louisville Bats (17-30).

Four of Omaha’s first five batters put balls in play, but the first two resulted in outs. RF Nate Eaton walked to put a runner on with two outs to bring up DH Vinnie Pasquantino who proceeded to hit a rope to right field that gave Pasquantino his 14th long ball of season. After giving up a two-out walk in the bottom of the frame the Storm Chasers led 2-0.

SS Iván Castillo and 1B Nick Pratto hit back-to-back singles in the third to put runners at the corners. Pasquantino would draw a walk to juice the bases with two outs, but a groundout left the bases loaded and ended Omaha’s scoring chance.

Omaha started the fourth with a single from CF JaCoby Jones who moved to second on a hit by LF John Rave. The Storm Chasers got the bases loaded for the second consecutive inning on a 2B Angelo Castellano and Castillo gave Omaha a better result this time around.

Castello started the scoring in the fourth with a double to score a pair and leave two runners in scoring position. A wild pitch would score Castellano and move Castello to third. Pasquantino hit his team leading second triple of the season to blow the score wide open at 7-0.

Castillo walked to put a runner on in the top of the sixth before Pratto hit a home run to straightaway center that had a 462-foot projected distance to extend Omaha’s lead.

Jones hit a single in the seventh and C José Briceño was hit by a pitch to put two runners on with two away. Castellano used a double to score two runs and push the Storm Chasers lead to 10-1 heading to the bottom of the seventh.

RHP Carlos Hernández goes into the seventh for the longest start by a Storm Chaser this season. Hernández went 6.2 innings and allowed one earned run on five hits and one walk with six strikeouts in his first quality start of this year.

With one gone in the top of the eighth, Eaton decided there’s no better time than the present to hit his first homer with Omaha and push the lead back to double-digits at 11-1, where it would stay.

Omaha heads home to open a two-week homestand against Indianapolis and Lehigh Valley. The first pitch for Tuesday’s series opener is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. with the Sarpy County Tourism Pregame Show on 1180 The Zone.

Omaha will be wearing specialty Runza Jerseys on June 4, against Indianapolis. The game-worn jerseys will be part of a silent auction in the ballpark and a Runza Beach Towel giveaway. Make sure to get to the ballpark early to get yours.

The full 2022 schedule can be found here and single-game tickets are now available here.

For more tickets and more information, please visit omahastormchasers.com, call the Werner Park Ticket office at (402) 738-5100, and follow the team on social media. You can follow the team on Twitter @omastormchasers, on Instagram @omahastormchasers, and “like” the team on Facebook at facebook.com/omahastormchasers.