Indy Drops High-Scoring Affair With Omaha, 9-6

September 10, 2022 – International League (IL) – Indianapolis Indians News Release

PAPILLION, Neb. – Drew Maggi collected his first three-hit performance of the season as the Indianapolis Indians fell to the Omaha Storm Chasers on Saturday night, 9-6. With tonight’s loss, the Indians dropped their first series since July 12-16 at Columbus.

Omaha (65-69) bursted for a four-run fourth against Indians starting pitcher Jerad Eickhoff (L, 6-6) to take a 6-2 lead. Maikel Garcia smacked an leadoff single and stole second to put himself in scoring position and Dairon Blanco would send him home on an RBI single. Reetz put a stamp on the four-run frame with a two-run shot over the left field fence.

Both teams traded a pair of runs to break open the scoring in the second inning. Blake Sabol walked and Brendt Citta singled to set the table for back-to-back RBI singles by Jared Oliva and Maggi. Oliva extended his hitting streak to eight games with his fifth multi-hit game during that span. In the bottom half, Freddy Fermin and Jackson Reetz each singled before the Storm Chasers tied the ballgame at two apiece. Jimmy Govern reached on a fielding error by shortstop Maggi to score Fermin and an RBI single by Ivan Castillo would score Reetz.

Three consecutive extra-base hits for the Indians (69-64) led to two runs and cutting their deficit in half in the fourth inning. Back-to-back doubles by Zack Collins and Oliva led to Indy’s first run of the frame and ended the night of reliever Zach Haake (W, 1-1). Maggi then followed with an RBI triple – his first triple since Aug. 26, 2021 with Triple-A St. Paul at Toledo.

Onto the fifth, the Indians inched closer with a double steal by Kevin Padlo and Blake Sabol that forced an errant throw by catcher Freddy Fermin to score Padlo. Omaha would get that run back in its following at bat when Blanco was beaned, advanced to second base on a balk and swiped third base prior to an RBI groundout by Fermin.

After a leadoff walk by Gabriel Cancel, Clay Dungan extened the Storm Chasers’ lead with an RBI triple and a throwing error by second baseman Ji-Hwan Bae that sent him home.

Indy found life when they loaded the bases with one out in the top of the seventh, but only managed to scratch across a run when Collins hit a sacrifice fly.

With runners on the corners in the top of the ninth, the Indians brough the tying run up to the plate. Omaha’s closer Andres Nunez (S, 5) induced a 4-6-3 double play to effectively end the ballgame.

The Indians…