COLUMBUS, OHIO – The Omaha Storm Chasers (23-19/56-60) fell to the Columbus Clippers (21-21/62-54) on Friday night 6-2. Matthew Lugo went 2-for-4 with a triple and the Storm Chasers rallied in the 9th inning, but Omaha still fell for the second time in the series.
The Clippers opened the scoring in the bottom of the 1st inning with a 2-run single off Storm Chasers starter Henry Williams (4-3) to take a 2-0 lead.
Williams came back with a scoreless 2nd inning but gave up a leadoff home run in the bottom of the 3rd inning which extended Columbus’ lead to 3-0.
Williams then fired a 1-2-3 bottom of the 4th inning, exiting the game in the bottom of the 5th inning after surrendering a sacrifice fly to extend the Clippers’ advantage to 4-0. Easton McGee took over on the mound with a runner on 1st and two outs, and picked off the runner to finish the frame.
The Storm Chasers finally got on the board in the top of the 6th inning on a bases-loaded double play that allowed a run to cross, cutting the deficit to 4-1.
McGee kept Columbus from scoring in the bottom of the 6th inning, and Anthony Gose struck out a pair with a perfect 7th inning.
Nolan Hoffman pitched the bottom of the 8th inning but was tagged for a two-run double to extend the Clippers’ lead to 6-1.
Omaha rallied with a trio of baserunners in the top of the 9th inning, including an RBI single from Lugo to cut the score to 6-2, but couldn’t pull off the comeback with a 4-run loss.
The Storm Chasers will play the Clippers again at Huntington Park on Saturday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 P.M. CT and Ryan Ramsey is in line to start for Omaha.