Storm Chasers Roll to 7-2 Win Over Mud Hens

TOLEDO, OHIO – Henry Williams (4-2) fired 5.2 scoreless innings as the Omaha Storm Chasers (22-16/55-57) rolled to a 7-2 victory over the Toledo Mud Hens (18-20/52-60) for the team’s 4th straight win. The start was Williams’ second straight scoreless start, while Omaha’s offense was propelled by a home run from Matthew Lugo and a 2-for-4 night from Brett Squires.

The Storm Chasers scored first, plating a run in the top of the 1st inning when Gavin Cross raced home on an RBI fielder’s choice to grab a 1-0 lead.

Williams then worked a perfect 1st inning and navigated a two-out walk in the bottom of the 2nd inning to keep the Mud Hens from scoring.

Omaha extended its lead to 2-0 in the top of the 3rd inning when a throw to first base on a dropped 3rd strike allowed Squires to score from third base.

Williams struck out the side in a 1-2-3 bottom of the 3rd inning, then worked around a walk and wild pitch in the bottom of the 4th inning for another scoreless frame.

Lugo then hit a 3-run home run in the top of the 5th inning to bring the score to 5-0, and although Williams allowed his first hit of the game in the bottom half, he kept Toledo off the board.

After giving up a two-out double and hit-by-pitch in the bottom of the 6th inning, the Storm Chasers turned to Luke Little for his Storm Chasers debut out of the bullpen, and he retired the only batter he faced to finish the inning. Williams ended the game with 5.2 innings of scoreless baseball, allowing just 3 hits and 3 walks while striking out 6 batters, extending his season-high scoreless streak to 11.2 innings over his first 2 starts in August.

Jack Pineda added to the Storm Chasers lead with a little league home run in the top of the 7th inning, picking up an RBI single but scoring himself on a 3-base fielding error to make it 7-0.

The Mud Hens responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the 7th inning, with Little surrendering an RBI double and exiting the game with one out and a runner on 3rd base. Eli Morgan then allowed the inherited runner to score on a sac fly, cutting Omaha’s lead to 7-2 before getting out of the inning.

Morgan returned with a perfect bottom of the 8th inning and the Storm Chasers turned to Justin Topa for the bottom of the 9th inning. After surrendering a leadoff single in the 9th, Topa retired the next 3 batters to finish off the Omaha’s 4th straight win.

The Storm Chasers will have one more game at Fifth Third Field, taking on the Mud Hens for the series finale on Sunday. First pitch is set for 3:05 P.M. CT and Ryan Ramsey is scheduled to pitch for Omaha.