LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A three-run double by Travis Demeritte with two outs in the top of the ninth inning propelled the Gwinnett Stripers (5-3) to a come-from-behind 9-7 win over the Louisville Bats (4-5) Friday night in game two of the four-game series at Louisville Slugger Field.
Scoring Recap: The back-and-forth contest saw Gwinnett take a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI single by Louisville native Adam Duvall. The Bats tied it at 1-1 against Stripers starter Mike Soroka in the bottom of the fourth, but Rafael Ortega’s (2) solo home run off Louisville starter Vladimir Gutierrez put Gwinnett back ahead 2-1 in the fifth. The Bats then scored five straight runs to jump out to a 6-2 lead. The Stripers tied it at 6-6 with a four-run seventh, highlighted by a three-run homer from Andres Blanco (2) off Jackson Stephens. After an RBI single by Josh Van Meter in the bottom of the seventh put the Bats back in front 7-6, the Stripers took the lead for good in the top of the ninth. With two outs, Austin Riley reached on a third strike wild pitch from Sal Romano. Duvall followed with a double, Raffy Lopez was intentionally walked to load the bases, and Demeritte hit the bases-clearing double down the third base line.
Stripers Stats: Soroka pitched 4.1 innings, gave up five hits, four earned runs with one walk and three strikeouts. Rafael De Paula (W, 1-0) worked a scoreless bottom of the eighth with two strikeouts for the win. Dan Winkler (S, 1) walked the bases loaded with two outs in the ninth but hung on for his first save of the season. Blanco had another big night, going 2-for-4 with his second three-run homer in as many games. Duvall was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Luis Marte was 2-for-5 and Demeritte’s double was his only hit in five at-bats.
Bats Stats: Gutierrez went 5.0 innings with five hits, two earned runs, one walk and three strikeouts. He left the game with a 4-2 lead. Romano (L, 0-1) gave up three earned runs on two hits for the loss. He walked two and struck out two. Van Meter was 2-for-4 at the plate with an RBI. Sherman Johnson (1) drilled a pinch hit two-run homer off Soroka in the fifth.
Postgame Notes: Blanco is now 6-for-8 with two homers and seven RBIs in the first two games of the series. Soroka extended his hitless streak to 8.1 innings before allowing a one-out double to Rob Refsnyder in the fourth. The win was Gwinnett’s first at Louisville Slugger Field since July 1, 2016, snapping a nine-game losing streak.
Next Game (Saturday, April 13): Gwinnett at Louisville, 2:00 p.m. Eastern. RHP Touki Toussaint (0-0 3.00 ERA) will pitch for the Stripers vs. RHP Jose Lopez (0-0, 2.25 ERA) for the Bats. Radio Broadcast: 1:45 p.m. on 97.7 and 93.5 FM “The Other Side of the River.”
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