Sammons and Tassin shine in double-header losses

Game one:

Following their thrilling 9-8 victory on Thursday, the Toledo Mud Hens came very close to winning again, thanks to an almost perfect pitching performance, but ultimately fell short 4-2 against the Louisville Bats.

The Bats began the game with Lyon Richardson on the mound. He would hold the Hens hitless in the first inning, but an error by Livan Soto on a Justyn-Henry Malloy grounder and a walk drawn by Jace Jung gave Toledo a chance to score early. Richardson shut it down though, forcing two straight outs.

The Mud Hens would go with lefty Bryan Sammons to start the first game. Sammons went into the game with a 4-2 record and a 4.14 ERA. He didn’t spend much time on the mound in the first inning, sitting down three straight batters in just 14 pitches.

Toledo would find themselves in a similar situation in the second inning as the first with Anthony Bemboom hitting a two-out single and Riley Unroe drawing a walk. This time the inning would close with a Parker Meadow’s pop out in foul territory.

In the bottom of the second, Sammons would give up two walks with two outs when Hernan Perez hit a pop fly to right field. It looked like an easy out, but it hit the side of Bligh Madris’s mitt and fell to the ground, giving Louisville the 1-0 lead.

Richardson and the Bats would go one, two, three to begin the third inning as Sammons and the Hens did the same to close the inning.

Louisville worked a pseudo one, two, three inning as Ryan Vilade had a hard hit grounder that was good for a base hit, but he was caught stealing shortly after. Richardson closed the frame with his second and third strikeouts of the game.

Bemboom led off the fifth inning with a double down the right field line. He would be moved to third with a bunt by Riley Unroe and then brought home on a sacrifice fly by Meadows to make it a 1-1 game.

Sammons and the Mud Hens would once again go one, two, three to continue to hold the Bats hitless through five innings.

The sixth inning brought with it a new face on the mound for Louisville. Brooks Kriske would take over for Richardson. He got off to a strong start with two quick outs, but Vilade took him deep to take the 2-1 lead.

Sammons continued to work his way through the Louisville lineup, once again going one, two, three to continue his hitless streak into the final inning of the game.

Toledo looked to expand on their lead to begin the seventh inning. Justice Bigbie had a strong drive deep into center, but it was caught on the warning track. Bemboom was able to follow that up with a walk. Meadows moved him with a base hit, but both runners were left stranded as Malloy’s 21-game on base streak came to an end with a flyout.

With a no hitter on the line, the Mud Hens moved on from Sammons and brought out Andrew Vasquez to try and close out the final frame unscathed. A fielding error by Jung allowed Peyton Burdick to get on base. The Bats brought P. J. Higgins in to break the no hitter. He had a hard hit double putting runners on second and third. That brought Austin Wynns to the plate and he wasted no time hitting a three-run homer to steal the 4-2 walk-off win.

Notables:

• Bryan Sammons (6.0 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, 0 HR)
• Ryan Vilade (2-3, RBI, R)
• Anthony Bemboom (2-2, R, BB)

Game two:

While hits were hard to come by in the first game, Parker Meadows wasted no time showing that the Hens can hit. He hit a lead-off triple before being brought in by a Ryan Vilade sacrifice fly to take the early 1-0 lead.

After going six innings without a hit in the first game, the Bats found their first hit on just the second pitch of the game thanks to Livan Soto. A Bryce Tassin wild pitch and a Levi Jordan flyout moved Soto to third. He would be left on base though as Conner Capel hit a groundout to end the inning.

Getting the start over Anthony Bemboom in game two, Dillon Dingler hit a lead-off single that was followed up with another base hit by Bligh Madris to put runners on first and third. Madris got the start on first base as Keston Hiura moved to designated hitter. Justice Bigbie brought in Dingler with a force out to take the 2-1 lead as Bigbie raced to prevent the double play.

Louisville wasted no time looking for a response though as Edwin Rios hit a solo home run down the right field line, or so he thought. The umpires overturned the hit and called it foul. This caused Bats Manager Pat Kelly to argue with the home-plate umpire before being ejected. Rios wouldn’t leave the at bat empty handed though as he picked up an infield single. Peyton Burdick moved Rios to second base with a base hit of his own. Tassin then loaded the bases with his first walk of the game to Michael Trautwein. Tassin and the Hens would escape the jam with a strikeout and a groundout to Vilade.

Louisville decided to look elsewhere early as Christian Roa took the mound to begin the third inning. He would give up a base hit to Andrew Navigato and a walk to Meadows, but prevented Toledo from expanding on their lead.

Tassin continued to cause lots of issues for the Bats, closing the third inning with only six pitches.

The Mud Hens found themselves in scoring position yet again in the top of the fourth. A Hiura walk, a Dingler single, and a Bigbie base hit had the bases loaded. Toledo would be unable to execute on this opportunity though as Buddy Kennedy hit into a double play.

Following his quick third inning, Tassin would be relieved of his duties on the mound as Michael Bienlien took over. He was off to a quick start, forcing two outs in five pitches before Peyton Burdick took him deep to make it a 2-1 game. Bienlien was able to escape with the lead intact with a strikeout against Trautwein.

The Bats turned to their bullpen again to begin the fifth inning as Alex Young took the mound. Young forced a groundout from Navigato before giving up a base hit to Meadows. Vilade then hit a grounder to Soto that would turn into the Bats’ third double play of the game.

Louisville was given an amazing opportunity to take over in the bottom of the fifth. They loaded the bases with no outs on a lead-off double from Erik Gozalez, a Soto single, and a walk drawn by Rece Hinds. Jordan tried to bring in Gonzalez, but his grounder to third forced the out at home. Bienlien then picked up a strikeout on Capel, before walking P. J. Higgins to tie the game. The Bats tried to steal a second run on the walk, but Dingler tagged out Hinds to prevent them from taking the lead.

The sixth inning brought with it yet another Louisville pitcher as Casey Legumina took the rubber. After sitting out the first game, Akil Baddoo hit a lead-off single. Hiura struckout and Dingler hit into the Bats’ fourth double play of the game.

Toledo continued to rely on Bienlien to work through the Louisville lineup, despite Brennan Hanifee being spotted in the bullpen in the inning prior. Bienlien gave up a soft grounder to Burdick which ended his day. Hanifee was able to pick up back to back force outs at second base to end the inning.

The entire bullpen would see some work today as the Bats brought out Tony Santillan in the seventh inning. A fielding error by Soto allowed Bigbie to get on base before a throwing error by Santillan moved him to second. This gave Navigato a chance to bring in the lead-scoring run, but he hit a shallow pop fly, giving the Bats a chance to walk it off again.

Hanifee was able to force a lineout by Soto, but then walked Hinds on a full count. Hanifee then forced two flyouts to take the game into extra innings.

The eighth inning began with Navigato on second, Meadows at the plate, and Justin Bruihl on the mound. Meadows hit a short chip over the mound that Soto fielded and tried to tag out Navigato, but he would be ruled safe. Bruihl then struckout Vilade, but both runners were able to steal bags. Baddoo then brought in Navigato with a sacrifice fly as Meadows moved to third. A Hiura strikeout ended the frame with the Hens up 3-2.

With another chance the Bats put Chapel on second and had Higgins up to bat. The Mud Hens would turn to Andrew Magno to try and close out the game. Magno forced a groundout from Higgins, but things took a turn from there. Rios hit a game-tying RBI double before Toledo decided to intentionally walk Burdick. Louisville then brought in Hernan Perez to hit for Trautwein. Perez loaded the bases with a single as Gonzalez stepped up for his bout with the lefty Magno. Gonzalez’s sacrifice fly deep into left field would be enough to bring in Rios and steal the second walk off of the day.

The Mud Hens get another shot at the Bats Saturday night. Toledo will have to win these final two games in order to end the series with a tie.

Notables:

• Bryce Tassin (3.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, BB, 3 K)
• Parker Meadows (2-3, 3B, R, BB)
• Dillon Dingler (2-3, R)