PAPILLION, NEB. – After being held scoreless in the final eight innings of the game, the Omaha Storm Chasers dropped game six and the series against the Louisville Bats with a 4-2 loss on Sunday at Werner Park.
As the final game of the series got underway, Omaha starting pitcher Daniel Lynch IV only needed four pitches for a perfect first inning and the left-hander retired his first nine hitters of the game.
Omaha scored the opening runs of the evening in the bottom of the first inning as John Rave led the frame off with a walk that set up Nate Eaton to drill his seventh homer of the season to left field as Chasers took the early 2-0 lead.
After early scoring by Omaha, both teams struggled to get runs on the board for the next four innings as stellar outings by each starting pitcher helped along the way. The Bats plated their first run of the game with a trio of singles in the top of the sixth inning and cut the lead down to 2-1 in favor of Omaha
Lynch worked two outs into the seventh, securing his fourth straight quality start with the Storm Chasers, as he held the Bats to just the one run over 6.2 innings, with no walks and eight strikeouts. Right-handed reliever Steven Cruz got the final out of the seventh and the first out of the eighth before a double ended his outing after just three batters. Austin Cox replaced Cruz and inherited the runner on second base but after walking the first batter he faced, induced an inning-ending double play to strand the runner on.
A triple from Rave and walk by Nick Pratto put two runners on in the eighth, but Omaha was unable to add any insurance and headed into the ninth inning up by one run with three outs to get.
Colin Selby was tasked with earning the save but promptly surrendered a leadoff home run to Edwin Ríos that tied the game at 2-2. While Selby proceeded to get the first and seconds outs of the inning, he also put a pair of runners on and Hernán Pérez doubled in both for a 4-2 Louisville lead.
The Chasers were unable to mount a comeback in the bottom of the ninth, as three straight strikeouts of Omaha hitters promptly ended the game and lost the series for the Storm Chasers, just the team’s second series loss this year.
With the first half concluding Sunday, the second half kicks off Tuesday, June 25 as the Storm Chasers travel to Columbus and face the Clippers for a six-game set at Huntington Park as first pitch will be 6:05 p.m. CT and left-handed pitcher Kris Bubic is slated to start for Omaha.
