Bats Drop Second Straight One-Run Battle In Columbus

In a back-and-forth affair, the Louisville Bats suffered their second straight one-run loss, 5-4 to the Columbus Clippers on Wednesday night in the second game of a six-game series at Huntington Park.

The game began in an inauspicious fashion for the Clippers. Righty Justin Campbell was scheduled to make his Triple-A debut on the mound, but was injured during his warmups ahead of the top of the first inning and could not continue. Before a pitch was thrown in the game, the Clippers had to turn to Trenton Denholm out of the bullpen.

Denholm and Bats starter Brandon Leibrandt were sharp early, with neither offense doing much until the third inning. Then, Garrett Hampson lined a single to center for the Bats’ first hit of the night. The next hitter, Dominic Pitelli, hit a fly ball to deep left-center that deflected off the glove of Clippers left fielder Dayan Frias for an RBI double, scoring Hampson with the first run of the night.

Columbus responded in the bottom of the frame with back-to-back doubles from Angel Genao and Juan Brito to tie the game, and an RBI double an inning later from Milan Tolentino put the Clippers in front. Those would be the only runs off Leibrandt. Over 4.0 innings, he allowed two runs on eight hits with two walks and two strikeouts. He would not factor in the final decision.

P.J. Higgins led off the top of the fifth with his first extra-base hit of the season, a double to right. Two hitters later, Pitelli singled through the drawn-in infield to score Higgins and tie the game.

In the sixth, Carlos Jorge got the Bats started with a single to right. Will Benson also singled to put runners on the corners with one out before a Francisco Urbaez sacrifice fly put the Bats in front 3-2. Sam Benschoter (L, 3-5) was able to hold the lead through six, but the game unraveled for him and the Bats in the seventh.

Petey Halpin got the Clippers started in the seventh with a one-out triple. Angel Genao tied the game with a single to center. Juan Brito put the go-ahead runs on base with a double to left. Ralphy Velazquez put Columbus back in the lead with an RBI single to right, ending Benschoter’s outing. Hagen Danner entered and induced a ground out from CJ Kayfus, but a run scored to make it 5-3 before the inning finally came to an end.

The Bats looked to get the runs back in the eighth, loading the bases with two outs. Higgins kept the inning alive with a walk to force in a run. Hamson then hit a hard ground ball to short that was fielded by Tolentino, who got the force out at second to preserve the lead at 5-4. Hunter Parks maintained the one-run deficit with a scoreless bottom of the frame.

In the ninth, Columbus closer Franco Aleman (S, 9) retired the Bats in order to complete the win for the home team.

Pitelli led the way for the Bats offense, going 2-for-3 with two RBI while Benson also produced two hits and Jorge scored two runs in the loss. As a team, the Bats went just 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position, leaving seven men on base.

The Bats (41-39, 2-5 second half) and Clippers (46-36, 5-3 second half) continue their series on Thursday night. First pitch at Huntington Park is set for 7:05 p.m. Nick Curran will be on the call for Sports Talk 790.