Bats Rally for 7-4 Win over Clippers
April 20, 2025 - International League (IL)
Louisville Bats News Release
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Louisville Bats stormed ahead with a big fifth inning and held on at the end, defeating the Columbus Clippers 7-4 to earn a split of their six-game series on Sunday afternoon at Huntington Park.
Trailing 1-0 after four, the Louisville offense was finally able to get their bats to good use in the top of the fifth. Leading off the frame against Columbus starter Kolby Allard, Will Banfield laced a double down the left field line to put the tying run in scoring position. Tyler Callihan grounded out to move Banfield to third with one out, bringing an end to Allard's start after 4.1 frames.
Nick Mikolajchak was first into the game from the Columbus bullpen and immediately walked Ivan Johnson, setting up a potential double play opportunity. Mikolajchak (L, 1-1) induced a ground ball to third from Rece Hinds, but third baseman Christian Cairo's throw to second base sailed into right field for an error, allowing Banfield to score the tying run and keep the rally moving. Edwin Rios walked to load the bases. With P.J. Higgins at the plate, a wild pitch brought Johnson home with the go-ahead run. Higgins walked to re-load the bases. A sacrifice fly from Francisco Urbaez and a double from Levi Jordan brought in two more runs, giving the Bats a 4-1 lead.
Sam Benschoter returned for his second relief inning and allowed a leadoff home run to Dom Nunez, cutting the Bats' lead to 4-2. A single and a walk would bring an end to Benschoter's outing with two on and nobody out. Reiver Sanmartin was called upon in relief and cleaned up the mess. He induced a double play ground out from Will Brennan and Milan Tolentino lined out to center, ending the inning with the 4-2 lead intact.
Banfield started the sixth with his second double in as many innings and quickly came home to score on an RBI single to center from Callihan. Alan Busenitz was next out of the Bats bullpen and retired all six hitters he faced between the sixth and seventh, striking out four.
Lenny Torres Jr. entered in the bottom of the eighth and gave up a two-run homer to Milan Tolentino to cut the Bats' lead to 5-4, but he got through the inning with the lead intact. Davis Wendzel got the runs back for Louisville in the ninth with a two-run single to left, bringing the advantage back to three runs at 7-4. Albert Abreu (S, 1) entered in a save situation and gave up a pair of hits before inducing a ground out from Cairo to finish the win and earn his first save as a Bat.
The game began in a different fashion than it ended for the Bats.
Ryan Cardona was promoted to Louisville from Double-A Chattanooga to make the spot start in his Triple-A debut after regularly scheduled starter Randy Wynne was called up by the Cincinnati Reds. The 24-year-old allowed a leadoff home run to Will Brennan, the first batter he faced at the Triple-A level. From there, Cardona settled down to pitch three solid innings, allowing just the one run on two hits with two walks to keep the game close. Benschoter (W, 1-0) took over and threw a scoreless fourth before the Bats took the lead in the fifth.
As a team, the Bats connected on seven doubles in the victory, the most they've had in a single game since May 18, 2023 vs. Jacksonville. Jordan led the way by going 3-for-5 with three doubles and an RBI. Banfield went 2-for-5 with two doubles in his first multi-hit game of the season. Hinds was 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI while Callihan went 1-for-4 with two walks to extend his season-opening on-base streak to 19 games.
The Bats (11-10) return home to begin a six-game series against the Iowa Cubs (11-7) on Tuesday night at Louisville Slugger Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. ET. Nick Curran and Jim Kelch will be on the call for Sports Talk 790 AM.
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