Mud Hens Earn Gritty 9-8 Walk-Off Win over Storm Chasers

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IL Toledo Mud Hens

Mud Hens Earn Gritty 9-8 Walk-Off Win over Storm Chasers

April 23, 2025 - International League (IL)
Toledo Mud Hens News Release


TOLEDO, OH - The Toledo Mud Hens and the Omaha Storm Chasers took the first of their six-game series into a thirteenth inning walk-off win for the Hens Tuesday night. Toledo would ultimately earn the 9-8 victory as they turned to Riley Unroe for pretty much all of their needs.

With the Detroit Tigers borrowing Keider Montero for Monday night's game against the San Diego Padres, the Mud Hens were forced to go to their bullpen for game one of their series with the Storm Chasers.

Toledo starter PJ Poulin struggled with command issues early as he hit his first batter, walked his second, and gave up a base hit to his third to load the bases. A second walk would give Omaha the early 1-0 lead, but Poulin pulled it together from there to get three-straight outs to escape the inning.

Taking over for Poulin, Jordan Balazovic went three-scoreless innings for the Hens. Balazovic's changeup caused issues for the Storm Chasers, allowing him to pick up four strikeouts during his tenure. He likely would have gone even longer, but manager Gabe Alvarez was extra conscious of Balazovic's pitch count as he is expected to start for Toledo on Sunday.

The Hens' offense finally offered their pitching staff some support in the fourth inning as they found themselves with the bases loaded. Akil Baddoo tied things up with a ground ball to second base, before Unroe earned a 3-1 lead with a two-RBI single.

After Ricky Vanasco took the mound for 1.1 innings, Tyler Owens took over for him with one out and a runner on first in the sixth inning. Owens's first pitch was shot down the left-field line by Tyler Gentry to put runners on second and third. The Mud Hens would trade a run for an out, but escaped the inning with a 3-2 lead.

Omaha took over in the seventh inning with Dustin Dickerson leading the way with a base hit. John Rave then hit a flyball to Jahmai Jones in right field which on first look was a great catch, but upon further analysis was not actually a catch. Things moved along without review though, as Owens began his battle with Nick Loftin.

The Hens wouldn't be as fortunate with Loftin at the plate though as he took an Owens splitter over the left-field wall to give Omaha the 4-3 lead.

Come the ninth inning, Toledo remained short a run. Andrew Chafin would be handed the responsibility of maintaining that deficit. His one, two, three inning featured two strikeouts with both coming on his slider.

The Mud Hens made big strides toward making their rally dreams a reality. Andrew Navigato led off with a double to right field. He then made his way home when Brian Serven sent a sinker into left field, tying things up 4-4.

In extras, Toledo turned the ball over to Matt Gage. He started off strong with a first-pitch groundout. The brought Bedford High School alumni, Joey Wiemer, to the plate. The hometown kid looked right at home as he hit an RBI double to give Omaha the 5-4 lead.

Looking to stay alive, the Mud Hens had runners on second and third thanks to a wild pitch and a walk drawn by Jones. Ryan Kreidler was able to take advantage of the moment, tying things up with a sacrifice fly.

With no more arms to spare, Toledo moved Unroe onto the mound for his second extra innings appearance from the rubber this season. His lead-off hitter, Dickerson, would give the Storm Chasers a 6-5 lead with a base hit, but Unroe shut things down from there with three-straight outs.

Hoping to shatter the Hens' dreams, Omaha brought out Taylor Clarke to face the bottom of the Toledo lineup. Navigato flied out to move Bligh Madris to third base, before a Serven base hit once again tied things up 6-6.

Unroe returned to the mound for Toledo in the twelfth inning and allowed another lead-off single to give the Chasers a 7-6 lead. From there he once again picked up three-straight outs to keep the Hens' hopes alive.

Following his second inning on the mound, Unroe led-off in the Hens' half of the twelfth by moving Baddoo to third base with a groundout. Toledo was able to tie things back up when Jones hit a grounder to third base and a fielding error allowed him to reach first.

Unroe then returned to the mound where the Chasers once again took a one-run lead with a Dickerson sac-fly.

All of Unroe's late-game work paid off as Toledo loaded the bases in the thirteenth and tied things when Baddoo challenged a pitch to draw a walk. That brought Unroe to the plate, he would battle for a 3-2 count before drawing the game-winning walk.

The Toledo Mud Hens and the Omaha Storm Chasers will square off again Wednesday at 6:35 p.m.

NOTABLES:

Riley Unroe (W, 3.0 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 0 HR / 1-6, 1 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K)

Jordan Balazovic (3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 0 HR)

Andrew Chafin (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 0 HR)

Andrew Navigato (2-5, 2B, 2 R)

Brian Serven (2-5, 2 RBI)

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