Toled-Oh No: Slumping Chasers Fall to Hens 10-3 – Farm to Fountains

It’s not time to panic about the Storm Chasers after four consecutive losses but with 11 games left in the first half of the schedule their lead diminishing, the vibes are pretty low.

The Omaha Storm Chasers fell to the Toledo Mud Hens 10-3 at Fifth Third Field on Tuesday night. The Chasers have now lost four in a row for the first time all season.

With the loss and a Syracuse win over Lehigh Valley, the Chasers now lead the IL by just 3.5 games with 11 to go. The magic number to clinch is still at eight games. 

Omaha had no answer for the Mud Hens’ top three hitters Parker Meadows, Spencer Torkelson, and Jace Jung, who went a combined 6-10 for five RBIs and four walks. Jace Jung also homered twice. 

Chandler Champlain got roughed up by Toledo tonight and took his first loss of the season. He went only three innings and gave up seven earned runs on eight hits while walking four and striking out two. It was his first decision of the season as well. 

The Storm Chasers had prime opportunities to try and catch the Mud Hens during the game. They had the bases loaded with nobody out to start the game, but two strikeouts and a flyout to center ended the threat.

Omaha then loaded the bases again down by three in the 4th Inning on three straight singles, but a strikeout and a flyout ended the inning. Toledo scored three runs in the bottom half of the inning to stretch the lead. 

Omaha finished the game going 3-for-12 with RISP and leaving 13 men on base. The Chasers also struck out 13 times (eight of nine batters struck out at least once) and only got two walks. 

That was just the theme of the game: Omaha had chances to score and didn’t. Toledo had chances to score and did. Justone of those nights.

There were plenty of positives to take away from this game, however. That can be further discussed in my notes down here.

• CJ Alexander finished a double shy of the cycle. He drove in two of Omaha’s three runs and hit a solo home run and a triple. He was the lone Chaser not to strike out tonight.
• Good to see Tyler Gentry bounce back with a two-hit game. Second time this month that Gentry has gotten at least a hit. 
• Austin Nola came in today 5-53. He finished today 2-4 with two singles. That’s an encouraging sign for him. 
• Brian O’Keefe and Nate Eaton were the other two Chasers with two hits each.
• The Storm Chasers had 14 hits in their last three games against Memphis combined. They had 13 today. The offense is starting to feel it again, just have to find ways to score.
• Austin Cox got through two innings allowing just a hit and a walk and got a strikeout. 
• Northwest Arkansas reliever Noah Murdock pitched his first Triple-A inning and struck out two in a 1-2-3 8th Inning. That’s a pretty solid debut. 

The Chasers get another chance to snap their losing streak tomorrow night against the Mud Hens in Game 2 of their series. Andrew Hoffman will head to the hill for Omaha, looking to bounce back from a rough outing on June 6th against Memphis.