Bats and Bulls Square off in Decisive Game Five Tonight at 5:05

Louisville, KY – Yesterday, the Louisville Bats defeated the Durham Bulls 10-7 in the face of elimination. There was a barrage of hits and runs through three innings, with both teams putting up six runs a piece. Niether starting pitcher lasted any longer than two-and-one-third innings. Both bullpen’s pitched well to keep their respective teams in the game, but the Bats finally broke the dead lock on a solo home run by Danny Dorn in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Bats pitcher, Tom Cochran, who only had three starts for the Bats in the regular season, got the nod to start from manager Rick Sweet. He was ousted after only two-and-one-third innings after being pounded in the early going. He surrendered six hits, six runs, two walks, while striking out one batter.

Bulls starter Rayner Oliveros was not any better. He ended up pitching one inning plus, giving up four hits, five runs, and two walks.

Cochran gave way to relief pitcher, Lee Tabor, who pitched brilliantly for the Bats. Tabor (1-0, 0.00) picked up the win, going four productive relief innings, only allowing two hits and one walk. He also notched two strike outs in a valiant relief effort.

Heath Rollins relieved Oliveros and pitched four-and-two-thirds innings. Rollins (0-1, 5.40) suffered the loss giving up four hits, three runs, one walk, while striking out one.

For the second consecutive evening, the Bats got on the board first. Prior to last night, the team who scored first in the series ultimately lost the game. The Bats broke that trend tonight. They put up a two-spot in the bottom of the first on a pair of RBI singles by Juan Francisco and Todd Frazier.

The Bulls doubled the Bats in the top of the second on an RBI single by Elliot Johnson, followed by a 385-foot three-run home run by Michel Hernandez, giving the Bulls a 4-2 lead.

The Bats put up four runs of their own to gain back the lead in the bottom half of the second. Chris Denove hit a two-run double to tie the game, and two batters later, Chris Heisey hit a two-run single to give the Bats a lead of 6-4.

In the spirit of the back and forth game, the Bulls were able to tie the game back up in the top of the third. They scored runs via a ground out and a wild pitch, which was Tabor’s first pitch of the ballgame, knotting it up at six.

The scoring halted until the bottom of the sixth when Dorn’s 372-foot home run untied it, giving the Bats a 7-6 lead. But the Bats were not done scoring in the inning. Chris Valaika doubled following Dorn’s home run, and was able to move up to third on a wild pitch. During the next at-bat, another wild pitch was thrown, this time allowing Valaika to score, pushing the lead to 8-6.

The Bulls attempted to rally in the top of the eighth. With one on and one out, Johnson singled back to Bats relief pitcher, Enerio del Rosario, who air mailed a throw to first, allowing Justin Ruggiano to advance to third. Logan Ondrusek came in and the first batter he faced, Hernandez, sent a broken bat comebacker to the mound, and Ondrusek threw the ball into centerfield, scoring Ruggiano, and making it 8-7 in favor of the Bats. Ondrusek was able to stop the bleeding by coaxing back-to-back ground outs to end the inning.

The Bats added some much needed insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth. Hot-hitting Chris Denove struck again, hitting his second double of the game into the left field corner, scoring Danny Dorn. Luis Bolivar followed Denove, hitting a sacrifice fly to extend the Bats lead to 10-7.

Ondrusek sent the Bulls down in order in the top of the ninth to earn his second save of the postseason.

The Bats and Bulls will lock up in decisive game five of the series tonight. First pitch is set for 5:05. RHP Camillo Vazquez will get the ball for the Bats. He will be opposed by RHP Paul Phillips of the Bulls. It will be both pitchers’ first start of the postseason.