IL1 Louisville Bats

Bats Fall 8-2, Split Series with Bisons

Published on May 5, 2013 under International League (IL1)
Louisville Bats News Release


BUFFALO, Ny.-The Bats entered Sunday with an opportunity to win a series in Buffalo for just the fourth time in franchise history, and first since 2008. Right-hander Daniel Corcino took the mound looking to build upon his last start, in which he allowed just one run in six innings of work, striking out five batters to pick up his first win of the season.

Corcino got off to a rocky start, hitting Buffalo's Mike McCoy on the first pitch of the game. After allowing a single to Anthony Gose, a passed ball put both runners in scoring position with the heart of the lineup coming up. Jim Negrych, the leading hitter in the International League, hit a sacrifice fly, and Luis Jim�nez recorded his league-leading 27th RBI, as the Bison's took a 2-0 lead after the first.

Louisville would try to answer in the top of the second, as Felix Perez led off the inning with a single. Mike Hessman followed with a walk and Denis Phipps singled to left field, but Perez was held up at third base. Josh Fellhauer popped out to shallow center and Kristopher Negron hit into the inning ending 5-4-3 double play, as the Bats left three runners stranded, squandering an excellent scoring opportunity.

Konrad Schmidt led off the third inning with a single. Billy Hamilton lined out to centerfield and Schmidt was later caught stealing second base to end any real threat. That would change in the fourth inning, as Felix Perez blasted a one-out solo homerun to right field, cutting the deficit to 2-1. The homerun was Perez's fourth this season, and first since April 18. Hessman and Fellhauer would each single in the inning, but the Bats were unable to add to the scoring in the fourth.

Errors would doom Louisville in the home half of the fourth inning. Josh Thole led off with a single, but was forced out at second base on a fielder's choice ground out by Andy LaRoche. The inning would only escalate from there. Ryan Langerhans grounded back to Corcino for a potential inning-ending double play; however Corcino overthrew Negron at second base, which advanced Thole to third. On the throw to the plate by Phipps from centerfield, the Bats allowed the ball get through the infield, bringing Thole in to score and advancing Langerhans to third base. Eugenio Velez singled on the next pitch to bring in Langerhans. After a fly out for the second out, Velez stole second base and advanced to third following a throwing error by Konrad Schmidt. All in all, Corcino allowed just one hit in the inning, but the Bison's converted on three throwing errors in the inning, scoring two runs to take a 4-1 lead.

Neftali Soto and Felix Perez went down in order in the top of the sixth. With a full count and two outs, Mike Hessman hit a towering solo homerun that went well over the fence in left field, bringing the score to 4-2. The homerun was Hessman's seventh of this season, which ties him for second most in the International League this season. The solo shot was Hessman's 391st career homerun, 371 of which have come in Minor League Baseball.

Buffalo would respond in the home half of the sixth. Thole and LaRoche started the inning with back-to-back singles. After fouling off several pitches, Ryan Langerhans belted a three-run homerun to extend the Bison's lead to 7-2, ending Corcino's day on the mound. Mike MacDougal relieved Corcino in the sixth, loading the bases off of three consecutive singles. MacDougal allowed one run in the sixth. Buffalo brought nine batters to the plate in the sixth, scoring four runs on six hits.

Daniel Corcino's final numbers were 5 IP, 8H, 7R, 4ER, with a walk and a strikeout. Corcino moves to 1-5 this season. Curtis Partch and Nick Christiani would also see action out of the bullpen for the Bats, throwing scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth innings respectively.

Following Hessman's homerun in the sixth, Buffalo's Ramon Ortiz retired the next seven Louisville batters to end his outing. Ortiz (2-0, 2.13), who turns 40 years old on May 23, threw eight brilliant innings, with both runs coming off solo homeruns. Ortiz's final line was 8 IP, 7H, 2R and 3 K's.

Louisville knew going in they were going to have to score runs to win, as Buffalo leads the International League in batting average (.305), homeruns (31), on-base percentage (.381) and slugging percentage (.475). The Bison's second baseman Jim Negrych leads the league in hitting (.420), after going 2-for-4 with two RBI on Sunday.

The 1985-86 Redbirds and 2008 Bats are the only Louisville teams to go into Buffalo and win a series in the team's existence. The Bats drop to 2-13 this season when allowing the opponent to score first, and 8-12 when committing an error. The three errors committed on Sunday, all which came in the fourth inning, ties the most errors in a single game for the Bats this season.

Louisville (14-16), failed to reach .500 for the first time since April 24, when they were 10-10. The Bats will look to bounce back as they travel to Lehigh Valley for a four-game series, beginning on Monday at 7:05 p.m. Louisville's Chad Reineke (3-0, 2.08) faces the Iron Pigs' Ethan Martin (1-2, 7.66).

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