Bats Mash Their Way to Double-Header Sweep
April 12, 2025 - International League (IL)
Louisville Bats News Release
LOUISVILLE, Kentucky - The Louisville Bats came out strong in Saturday's doubleheader to take game one against the Indianapolis Indians, 5-1, and kept the ball rolling to complete the sweep with a 7-2 victory in game two.
Drew Parrish got the nod in game one, looking to turn things around after logging just 4.2 innings with a 5.79 ERA in his first two starts of the season. That prospect seemed bleak early, though, as the Indians opened play with back-to-back hits and took a 1-0 lead.
Austin Hays, in his second game of his rehab assignment with the Bats, offered a response in the bottom of the inning with a solo bomb over the left field wall to tie the game.
Parrish ran into trouble in the second inning, loading the bases. Thanks to a heads-up play by P.J. Higgins, picking off the runner at first base for the third out, he escaped unscathed to preserve the deadlock. Louisville immediately capitalized on that and broke the stalemate in the bottom of the inning. After putting the first two hitters on base, Levi Jordan grounded into a double play that brought Edwin Ríos home and gave the Bats a 2-1 lead.
With the Bats in front, Parrish seemed to settle in, setting Indianapolis down 1-2-3 in the third. Ivan Johnson joined the party in the bottom of the frame, launching the first pitch he saw over the fence to put another run on the board. Mike Burrows' (L, 0-1) outing ended after 4.1 innings.
After another scoreless inning from Parrish his day came to an end, finishing with five hits, one run, one walk and one strikeout in four innings of action, undoubtedly his strongest start so far this season.
Louisville passed the ball to Lyon Richardson (W, 2-0), who quickly found himself in a bases-loaded bind before recording an out. Richardson avoided damage by retiring the next three hitters to preserve the Bats' two-run cushion. Richardson returned in the sixth and tossed another scoreless frame.
In the bottom of the sixth, Louisville attacked the Indianapolis bullpen, adding more insurance. The Indians retired the first two Bats, but the Bats tacked on two more runs as the Bats struggled to record the third out.
Up 5-1, Lenny Torres Jr. entered in the seventh looking to finish the job. Despite yielding two walks, Torres stranded the runners to secure the victory in game one of the.
Thirty minutes later the Bats returned to the diamond seeking the Saturday sweep with the ball in Aaron Wilkerson's (W, 2-1) hand.
Just like in game one, Louisville registered a run in the first frame. Johnson worked a walk and swiped second to move into scoring position, and a single off Will Benson's bat brought him home. The Bats pounced on Peter Strzelecki (L, 0-2) in the second inning, notching six runs off the Indianapolis righty and prompting a call to the bullpen after just 1.2 innings. Louisville paraded 10 hitters to the plate and drove in all five runs with two outs.
On the other side of the ball, Wilkerson continued to roll. One week after throwing six scoreless innings and fanning nine, Wilkerson picked up right where he left off, breezing through the first three innings and navigating around two hits in the fourth to keep the Indians scoreless. Wilkerson returned for the fifth inning and kept the shutout alive, allowing four hits and striking out four. With this strong performance, Wilkerson has posted 11-straight scoreless innings.
Alexis Díaz came on in relief and surrendered a two-run home run to Malcom Nuñez, but prevented any further damage.
Between Wilkerson's strong start and Louisville's hot hitting, the Bats coasted to a 7-2 win. Recording 12 total runs on Saturday, several Louisville batters came through at the plate. Johnson led the way in game one, going 2-3 with 3 RBI and scored two runs while going 1-3 with another RBI in the latter contest. Benson couldn't be contained in game two, going 4-4 with a homer and four RBI.
The Bats (8-6) will wrap up their series against the Indians (4-7) on Sunday with first pitch set for 1:05 p.m. ET. Nick Curran and Jim Kelch will be on the call for Sports Talk 790.
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