Wild Night in Nebraska Ends in a Clippers Victory
May 16, 2025 - International League (IL)
Columbus Clippers News Release
PAPILLION - It was a wild night in Tornado Alley on Thursday as the Columbus Clippers looked to snap a three-game losing streak in game-three of the series with the Omaha Storm Chasers at Werner Park. 24 runs, 25 hits, 11 different pitchers, over 400 pitches thrown, nine unanswered runs on one side, eight unanswered runs on the other side, Clippers hit around in three separate innings. A nine inning game going three hours and 42 minutes in the Pitch Clock Era. And oddly enough, zero errors. Absolutely wild.
Columbus hit the scoreboard first. RBI singles from Yordys Valdes and Brayan Rocchio put the ClipShow ahead, 2-0. C.J. Kayfus brought them both home on a two-run triple, giving the Clippers a four-run lead in the second inning. Kayfus went 4-6 on the night with a pair of RBIs.
Vince Velasquez got the start for Andy Tracy's squad on Thursday. He followed up his previous appearance on the mound against Indianapolis last week, where he went four scoreless and struck out six, with another three innings of shutout ball. The Montclair, CA native's pitch count rose over a season high six walks, but he was able to strike out at least five batters for the third time this season in the no decision.
In the top of the fourth, Johnathan Rodríguez singled home Rocchio, extending the Clippers advantage to 5-0. Rodríguez would finish the ballgame going 3-3 with three singles, three RBIs, and three walks. Reaching base in all six plate appearances before being pulled for a pinch runner in the top of the ninth.
The offense exploded again in the fifth. Dom Nuñez singled, Kyle Datres walked, and Valdes singled to load the bases. Christian Cairo drew a walk to score a run. Datres, who reached base four times in the game, then scored on a wild pitch. An RBI groundout by Rocchio and an RBI single by Rodríguez put the ClipShow in front, 9-0.
That's where the game took a swing. Omaha loaded the bases with one away. Tyler Tolbert and Nick Loftin each brought home a run with station-to-station RBI singles. With the bases still loaded, Cam Devanney stepped to the plate. After hitting a grand slam in Tuesday's series opening win, he decided to match it, and cleared the bases with another grand slam home run. His second of the series and his third in his last five games cut the Clippers lead to 9-6.
Omaha added another run in both the seventh and the eighth innings. Nelson Velázquez and John Rave each hit solo homers, making it a one run ballgame.
Clippers needed insurance in the ninth, and they got plenty of it. Walks to Cairo and Rocchio, followed by a single by Kayfus, loaded the bases with nobody out. Rodríguez singled home a run, Milan Tolentino brought home another with a single of his own. A pair of sacrifice flies from Nuñez and Valdes rounded out the scoring for Columbus. They went to bottom half of the frame with a 14-8 cushion.
Storm Chasers did not go quietly in the home half. After Tyler Gentry singled, with two down, Nick Pratto connected on his second home run of the year. The two-run blast made the score, 14-10. But Nick Mikolajchak (S, 2) was able to get Jordan Groshans to ground out to end the ballgame.
Every Clippers starter scored at least once. Columbus batted around three times, sending at least nine hitters to the plate in the second, fifth, and ninth innings. Parker Mushinski (W, 2-2) picked up the win on the mound, tossing two shutout innings in relief. He struck out a pair and only gave up one hit.
Columbus improves to 17-22, Omaha drops to 18-22. The series continues on Friday night at Werner Park, first pitch scheduled for 8:05 EDT. The Clippers return home after the two-week road trip on Tuesday, May 20th for a world famous Tansky Tuesday Dime-A-Dog Night. Tickets are available by visiting ClippersBaseball.com.
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