LOUISVILLE, KY. – The Omaha Storm Chasers ended the regular season with a 6-0 shutout loss to the Louisville Bats on Sunday at Louisville Slugger Field.
In the bottom of the first inning, the Bats got on the board early for a 2-0 lead as a walk and two hits – a single and a double off starting pitcher Tyson Guerrero – led to the first two runs of the game for Louisville.
The Bats led the rest of the way and added to their lead in the bottom of the third inning as a walk, single and two-run homer plated three more runs for a 5-0 lead.
Guerrero allowed those five runs on five hits over 3.0 innings, with Omaha’s bullpen finishing the afternoon. Anthony Simonelli entering in the bottom of the fourth inning and worked around four baserunners for 2.0 scoreless innings, striking out three in the process.
Eric Cerantola entered the game in the bottom of the sixth inning and shut the Bats down with a 1-2-3 sixth inning, the only time Louisville was retired in order all game.
Noah Murdock took the mound for the Chasers in the bottom of the seventh and retired 3 of 4 batters to get out of the frame, adding two strikeouts and stranding a runner that reached on a single.
Andrew Hoffmann came into the bottom of the eighth inning and allowed a Louisville insurance run to score off two hits as the lead extended to 6-0 heading into the ninth inning.
Omaha recorded just one hit in the loss, a two-out single from Tyler Tolbert, drawing three walks with a hit batter in the shutout loss.
The Storm Chasers end the 2024 regular season with a 89-59 record, the most wins in a season by the Triple-A Omaha club, with the .601 winning percentage being the second-best in franchise history.
With Monday off, the Storm Chasers will return to Werner Park for the International League Championship Series and face off against the Columbus Clippers in a best-of-three series starting on Tuesday September 24 as Game 1 starts at 6:35 p.m. CT.
