The Louisville Bats filled the second edition of Nothing Night with nothing but action on Wednesday night, outlasting the Omaha Storm Chasers 12-8 in walk-off fashion. Michael Chavis provided a no-doubt, game-winning grand slam to bring an exciting finish to the barn burner, while Hector Rodriguez recorded back-to-back games with multiple home runs for the first time since 2019.
In a back-and-forth affair, the Bats came up in the bottom of the ninth with the score tied at 8-8. With Ben Sears (L, 4-1) on the bump for the Storm Chasers, P.J. Higgins delivered the first piece of momentum to lead off the inning, smacking a double that just got knocked out of the glove of Omaha’s center fielder. After Will Banfield popped out and Austin Hendrick was intentionally walked, Garrett Hampson shot a single into right field that almost had a chance to score Dominic Pitelli, who was in as a pinch-runner for Higgins.
That brought up Chavis, who was appearing in his first at-bat on the night as a pinch-hitter for Sam Haggerty. Chavis fell behind early, looking at a first-pitch strike and whiffing on the second. However, on a sweeper that hung over the plate, Chavis skied a high-flying ball out to left field that reached beyond the wall to send the Bats fans into a frenzy. Chavis’s clinching home run marked the fifth of the game for Louisville.
Louisville had no shortage of home runs in their first matchup against Omaha, with Hector Rodriguez gathering two to kick off the series. Still, the Bats used the long ball to jump out to a quick lead, as Ke’Bryan Hayes and Rodriguez went back-to-back in the bottom of the first to make it 2-0. Hayes’s initial homer marked Louisville’s sixth straight game with at least one home run, the third-longest such streak of the season.
Jose Franco gave the Bats a chance at the lead after tossing a scoreless first, but quickly put the advantage in peril after walking two batters in the second. With one out, Omaha plated their first run of the game with a double, and Franco followed by walking another Storm Chaser to load the bases. Omaha seized the opportunity, hitting a ground-rule double to score a pair, crossing another run on a wild pitch, and plating a runner on an RBI ground out to flip the script and give the opposition a 5-2 lead.
But it didn’t take long for the Bats to respond with a powerful punch.
With one out in the bottom half, Hendrick flew his own solo homer, a high flyer that just eclipsed the right field fence to add on another run. That wasn’t the end of it, as Hampson lined his own home run for the second back-to-back sequence in consecutive innings and cut Omaha’s lead to 5-4 by the inning’s end. The consecutive back-to-back sequences in the first two innings are the first instance by the Bats since at least 2002.
After Franco managed a scoreless third, the offensive clinic from Rodriguez continued. After Hayes reached on a single, the outfielder delivered a scorching 405-foot home run to regain the lead in favor of the Bats. His multi-homer performance in back-to-back games is just the fifth instance in Louisville franchise history, with Phillip Ervin the last to do so on May 29-30 in 2019.
Despite giving up a triple and loading the bases once again, Franco kept his composure on the bump and kept Louisville’s lead intact in the fourth. The Bats went quiet for the first time tonight in the bottom frame, bringing Hagen Danner onto the mound in the fifth. Franco finished his night allowing five runs on four hits and six walks without recording a strikeout through the four innings.
Danner provided the first strikeouts of the night for the Louisville pitching staff, notching two against the first batters he faced. The Bats returned to their scoring habit in the fifth, with Higgins crossing a run on an RBI ground out, and Francisco Urbaez scoring on a walk to make it 8-5. Danner continued a clean outing from the bullpen into the seventh, tacking on another strikeout in a 1-2-3 inning.
Anthony Misiewicz relieved Danner in the seventh and looked solid, recording two quick outs after putting the leadoff man on due to an error. However, that leadoff runner would prove to be costly, as a single and an error from Carlos Jorge in center field brought home a run, and a single to follow brought Omaha close at 8-7. Trever Kuncl took the ball from Misiewicz and limited the damage, recording a quick strikeout to protect Louisville’s lead.
No matter how hard of an effort the Bats made to protect their lead, the Storm Chasers would inch closer and closer. With Chase Petty on the mound and two runners on, Omaha brought the tying run home after Hampson recorded an error at shortstop. Petty needed just one more out and got it two pitches later, forcing a flyout to keep the game deadlocked at 8-8.
Hunter Parks (W, 2-1) shut down the streak of runs scored in the ninth, and did so in fantastic fashion. After striking out the first batter, Parks allowed a walk to put a runner on base for Omaha. However, with a 1-2 count, Parks snapped a throw off to first and froze the runner, and was the one to put the tag on the runner in the ensuing rundown for the second out. Parks returned to the mound and, in one pitch, got Louisville out of the inning to set up their walk-off winner in the bottom frame.
Despite only appearing for the lone heroic at-bat, Chavis led the Bats with four RBI on the night, with Rodriguez right on his heels with three. Hayes also finished a triple shy of the cycle, ending his night 4-5 from the plate with an RBI and three runs scored. Misiewicz and Kuncl each earned their team-leading eighth hold, while Parks gathered his second win of the season.
The Bats will continue their series against the Storm Chasers on Friday night, with first pitch set for 7:15 p.m. ET at Louisville Slugger Field. Jose Acuña (1-0, 1.50) takes the bump and will oppose Omaha left-hander Ryan Ramsey (4-4, 5.45). Nick Curran and Jim Kelch will have the call on Sports Talk 790.