TOLEDO, OHIO – The Omaha Storm Chasers (21-16/54-57) claimed both games of a doubleheader against the Toledo Mud Hens (18-19/52-59) on Friday night. Lucas Braun (1-0) fired a quality start in an 11-2 victory in Game 1 while Peyton Wilson went 4-for-4 with 4 RBI in Omaha’s 10-3 win in Game 2. The Storm Chasers’ 21 runs between both legs of the doubleheader tied a Modern Era franchise record (since 2005) for most total runs scored by Omaha in a doubleheader.
GAME 1: OMAHA 11, TOLEDO 2 (7 Innings)
Braun opened the game with a scoreless bottom of the 1st inning, then Jacob Berry gave the Storm Chasers a 1-0 lead in his first at-bat for Omaha with a solo home run in the top of the 2nd inning.
Braun then fired another scoreless frame in the bottom of the 2nd inning, and the Storm Chasers added 4 runs in the top of the 3rd inning to go ahead 5-0. Drew Waters started the scoring with a 2-run triple, then Jack Pineda hit a sacrifice fly and Luca Tresh singled in a fourth run to cap off the frame.
After a perfect frame from Braun in the bottom of the 3rd inning, Waters added to Omaha’s lead with a 2-run single in the top of the 4th inning, bringing the score to 7-0.
Braun worked his fourth straight scoreless half in the bottom of the 4th inning, then Brett Squires made it an 11-0 game with a grand slam in the top of the 5th inning.
The Mud Hens finally got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the 5th inning with a 2-run home run off Braun, but he came back with a 3-up, 3-down 6th inning to keep the game 11-2.
Braun exited before the start of the 7th inning, finishing with a quality start, going 6.0 innings and allowing just 2 runs. Scott Barlow took over for him in the bottom of the 7th inning, navigating a leadoff walk for a scoreless inning to close out the game.
GAME 2: OMAHA 10, TOLEDO 3 (7 Innings)
The Mud Hens took the first lead of the game, homering off Omaha starter Ben Sears in the bottom of the 1st inning to take a 1-0 advantage.
The Storm Chasers responded with 7 runs in the top of the 2nd inning, beginning with an RBI double from Waters and 2-run single from Peyton Wilson. Alejo Lopez followed with an RBI double, and Gavin Cross finished the scoring with a 3-run home run, making it a 7-1 game.
Sears surrendered another solo home run in the bottom of the 2nd inning, cutting the gap to 7-2, but Wilson drove in 2 more runs in the top of the 3rd inning with a single to extend the lead to 9-2.
Omaha turned back to Sears for a scoreless bottom of the 3rd inning and he was relieved by Nolan Hoffman in the bottom of the 4th inning. Hoffman surrendered an RBI single in his Omaha debut to reduce the advantage to 9-3.
Anthony Gose (2-3) stranded the bases loaded to keep the Mud Hens off the board in the bottom of the 5th inning, then Carlos Duran struck out two in a 1-2-3 bottom of the 6th inning.
Lopez added another run with an RBI single in the top of the 7th inning, and Scott Alexander pitched a scoreless bottom of the 7th inning to finish the victory.
The Storm Chasers will return to Fifth Third Field on Saturday for the fifth game of their series with the Mud Hens, and first pitch is scheduled for 6:05 P.M. CT.