The Columbus Clippers (59-54) fell to the Louisville Bats (55-58) 6-2. The ninth inning came apart on Columbus in a tied game. The Bats put up a big rally and sent nine to the plate to beat Columbus and tie the three-game set at one game each.
Mark Lowe (1-2, 6.39 ERA) allowed the rally in the ninth and took the loss. Pedro Villarreal (5-2, 3.51 ERA) picked up the win out of the bullpen.
Neither starter factored into the decision Thursday. Josh Tomlin (2-1, 2.25 ERA) had a bit of a clunker in his return to the Clippers rotation. He went five innings and allowed two runs on two homers with four total hits, one walk and five strikeouts. Dylan Axelrod (6-7, 4.39 ERA) had a solid start for Louisville. He allowed two runs on five hits with one walk and 10 strikeouts in seven innings of work.
The Clippers jumped out to a one run lead in the second. Giovanny Urshela doubled to start the frame and scored on a fielder’s choice by Audy Ciriaco.
Jason Bourgeois tied the game in the third. With two outs he jumped on a Tomlin fastball and sent it to the left field bleachers. Ruben Gotay went back-to-back with him and made it a 2-1 Bats lead.
The Clippers doubled their way to double their score in the fifth. Ciriaco hit a one out double down the left field line. With two outs Luke Carlin doubled to right and tied the game at two.
Louisville rallied in the ninth. Bourgeois started the rally with a lead-off single. Felix Perez hit a one-out single to get to aboard. A passed ball that got by Columbus catcher Luke Carlin allowed both men to move into scoring position. The Clippers opted to load the bases by intentionally walking Neftali Soto.
The move did not work.
Former Clipper Thomas Neal walked and forced in a run. Rey Navarro then singled to left and made it a 4-2 game. Tucker Barnhart smacked a two-run double to right and capped off the rally.
The series finale is Friday at Huntington Park. Gabriel Arias (5-2, 3.86 ERA) will be the starter for Columbus against Brett Marshall (0-7, 9.09 ERA) for Louisville. First pitch is 7:15 p.m.
About Marion Online Sports
