Eighth Inning Rally Propels Bats Past Columbus 4-3

The Louisville Bats' eighth inning comeback stood strong despite a chaotic final inning in a 4-3 win over the Columbus Clippers on Tuesday night at Louisville Slugger Field.

Louisville's offense was quiet through the first four scoreless frames. Dominic Fletcher and Michael Chavis recorded the only two Louisville hits, but Columbus’ offense wasn’t any better.

A frightening second inning began with Jay Allen II crashing into the wall to make a spectacular catch, which immediately proved pivotal. Wereski hit the next batter and later walked two with two outs but induced a flyout to keep the game scoreless. Wereski settled down in the third and pitched well throughout, as he allowed just three hits through the first five innings.

Louisville’s offense finally woke up in the bottom of the fifth with Will Benson and P.J. Higgins leading the charge. The pair singled before Allen II was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Fletcher. After falling behind 1-2, Fletcher worked a walk to earn his first RBI as a Bat and give Louisville a short-lived 1-0 lead.

Wereski finally faltered in the sixth and surrendered the lead. He walked George Valera with one out before allowing a two-run shot to Kody Huff. The big fly gave the Clippers a 2-1 lead. Wereski struck out the next batter before exiting in favor of Zach McCambley. He allowed two runs on four hits, walked four and struck out three over 5.2 innings.

McCambley walked two batters in the seventh but induced a flyout to work out of the jam. Chase Petty (W, 3-6) allowed a hit and struck out a batter over a scoreless eighth inning, which set the offense up well.

Allen, Fletcher and Chavis all singled to tie the game in the eighth. With two outs, pinch-hitter Leo Balcazar doubled to score Fletcher and Chavis and gave Louisville a 4-2 lead.

In the ninth, Petty allowed three singles which scored a run and brought the Clippers closer with just one out. With runners on first and third, Kahlil Watson attempted to steal second base as Kyle Manzardo struck out. Watson deliberately induced a rundown to try and allow the lead runner to score but couldn’t buy enough time as Chavis tagged him out to seal the Bats' win, 4-3.

Despite being given just one opportunity, Balcazar successfully extended his on-base streak to 21 games. Wereski has allowed two runs or less in five of his seven starts with Louisville this year.

The Bats (60-77, 21-43 second half) will host Columbus (74-62, 33-29 second half) again on Wednesday at 12:05 p.m. RHP Carson Spiers (0-1, 5.23) will continue his rehab assignment against Logan Allen (6-3, 4.37). Nick Curran and Jim Kelch will be on the call on Talk Radio 1080.