Omaha blows 7-0 lead, falls to Columbus 9-8 in finale

Omaha had this one in hand before it slipped away in a rush. The Storm Chasers built a 7-0 lead by the second inning Sunday at Huntington Park, but Columbus stormed back for a 9-8 walk-off win in the series finale, erasing the cushion with eight unanswered runs over the final four innings.

The opening burst looked like the kind that should have carried Omaha through the afternoon. John Rave started it with a leadoff walk, Drew Waters followed with an RBI single, Abraham Toro delivered a two-run triple, and Gavin Cross added another RBI single in the first inning. Then Brett Squires pushed the margin deeper with a three-run homer to center in the second, his eighth of the season, before Kameron Misner later went deep in the fourth to make it 8-1 and keep the Storm Chasers on track for a runaway win.

Instead, Columbus began working back immediately. The Clippers scored in the third, then kept chipping away until Omaha’s bullpen and defense could not stop the surge. Henry Williams, the 24-year-old right-hander, gave Omaha a strong foundation with 6.0 innings, seven strikeouts and three runs allowed, but the lead disappeared after he left. Columbus completed the comeback in the ninth, when Milan Tolentino opened the inning with a solo homer to cut it to 8-7, then the Clippers tied it on a wild pitch before ending it with a walk-off single to center field.

The loss dropped Omaha to 28-34 and turned a game that had looked controlled into one of the most damaging defeats of the road trip. Misner finished 2-for-4 with a home run, one RBI and two stolen bases, while Waters and Toro each went 2-for-5 with two RBI. The Storm Chasers got production up and down the order, but the final four innings belonged to Columbus, which improved to 35-27 and kept its momentum alive in the playoff chase.

Omaha now heads back to Werner Park, where a new series against the Las Vegas Aviators is set to open Tuesday night.