IL1 Louisville Bats

VanMeter Belts Two Homers in 6-2 Bats Victory

Published on April 9, 2019 under International League (IL1)
Louisville Bats News Release


COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Louisville Bats (2-4) defeated the Columbus Clippers (4-2) tonight by a 6-2 score powered by Josh VanMeter's two home runs and four runs batted in. Louisville earns its first come-from-behind victory of the season after trailing 2-0 heading into the sixth inning.

In the first five innings of Tuesday night's matchup against the Clippers, the Bats' offense looked like it was still in the same funk that produced just two hits in Monday's series opening loss. The Bats mustered up just two singles, both off the bat of Aristides Aquino, in the first five innings tonight while Columbus' Mike Freeman hit two solo home runs himself to give the Clippers a 2-0 edge heading into the sixth.

Both of Freeman's blasts were the only two hits surrendered by Louisville starting pitcher, right-hander Odrisamer Despaigne (0-0, 4.50), who went 5.0 innings for the second straight start and once again got a no-decision. Despaigne struck out eight Clippers, setting a season-high for Louisville pitchers and coming within one of his career-high.

Louisville's offense started clicking in the top of the sixth, when catcher Valentin Martinez opened up the frame with a double. The 22-year-old, who appeared in eight games with the Bats last season, was just added to the roster today in place of starting catcher Juan Graterol, who was placed on the 7-day injured list today with a left heel contusion.

Martinez scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Christian Colon, which got the Bats on the scoreboard. VanMeter would tie the game 2-2 later that inning, crushing his first of two home runs Tuesday and his second in as many nights, at least for the time being. Louisville's pair of relievers Jackson Stephens and Cody Reed did a phenomenal job of keeping the Clippers from making a run, combining for 4.0 innings of shutout baseball while allowing just one hit and striking out six across the sixth through ninth innings in relief of Despaigne.

The Bats would take the lead in the top of the seventh on another Martinez double, his first career Triple-A RBI, scoring Brian O'Grady to make it a 3-2 Louisville lead. The game got fun for Louisville in the top of the eighth, with Sherman Johnson and Colon drawing back-to-back walks to start the inning before VanMeter launched his second home run of the night and his third in the past two games to give the Bats their first three-run homer of the season. In the process of giving the Bats a 6-2 lead, which turned out to be the final score, VanMeter also recorded the Bats' first multi-homer game since Gabriel Guerrero on July 30 of last season.

The Bats and Clippers will square off in the rubber match tomorrow at 11:35 a.m. at Huntington Park with right-hander Lucas Sims (0-0, 9.00) expected to pitch for Louisville and right-hander Shao-Ching Chiang (0-0, 4.76) on the bump for Columbus. The Bats go for their first series win bright and early on Wednesday, before heading home on Thursday.

Louisville comes home for the opener on April 11, with first pitch set for 7 p.m. against the Gwinnett Stripers. The Bats are celebrating their 20th season at Louisville Slugger Field all season long, and will kick off the celebration with a 20th season calendar giveaway, along with many other great promotions.

Check out the Louisville Bats Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



International League Stories from April 9, 2019


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central