Bats split doubleheader with Indianapolis after rough opener, bounce-back win

Louisville spent the first game chasing a hole it never should have dug, then spent the second game proving it could still salvage the day. The Bats lost 10-7 in the opener against Indianapolis, but rebounded for a 5-3 win in the finale to split the doubleheader and the six-game series at Louisville Slugger Field.

The twin bill came after Saturday night’s game was postponed because of inclement weather and unplayable field conditions, pushing the clubs into a makeup doubleheader Sunday at 12:05 p.m. Both games were set for seven innings, a format that tends to punish slow starts and reward teams that can recover quickly. Louisville had already beaten Indianapolis 6-5 on Wednesday on Noelvi Marte’s walk-off hit, so the series had been tight from the start.

Game 1 tilted immediately. Indianapolis had two hits on the first two pitches and Esmerlyn Valdez singled in the first two runs before Rafael Flores Jr. unloaded a grand slam to bury Louisville in a first inning that felt like a knockout. Chase Petty took the loss after allowing seven runs on eight hits and one walk in three innings, and the Bats were forced into recovery mode almost from the first out. Michael Chavis tried to drag them back with his team-leading 10th home run, and Francisco Urbaez added a two-run double, but the damage was too deep. Indianapolis finished with 10 runs on 13 hits, while Louisville had 7 runs on 12 hits.

Dominic Fletcher was the difference for Indianapolis and the loudest bat in the game, going 4-for-4 with a home run, a triple, four RBI and two runs scored. That kind of night is the difference between a game that stays close and one that gets away before the middle innings even arrive.

Louisville’s response in Game 2 was cleaner and more convincing. The Bats got enough sequencing and situational hitting to win 5-3, and Garrett Hampson’s first homer of the season in the seventh gave the lineup a jolt when it needed one most. The bullpen did enough to close it out and keep Indianapolis from turning the second game into another slugfest.

That is the whiplash of a doubleheader split: one game leaves a club frustrated by a pitching wobble and one terrible inning, the next leaves it encouraged that the lineup can still manufacture a win when the margin is thin. Louisville heads next to Columbus with a record and a recent stretch that showed both sides of Triple-A baseball, the collapse and the answer, often separated by only a few hours.