Five pitchers carried Toledo through nine innings Saturday, handing the game from one arm to the next while Louisville kept finding the same answer: no opening wide enough to change it.
Jack Flaherty started the relay with 2⅓ scoreless innings, Austin Gomber supplied four innings of bulk relief, and Tyler Mattison finished a 4-1 Mud Hens victory at Fifth Third Field. The Bats collected seven hits but did not score until the eighth, after Toledo had built a four-run lead.
Flaherty’s line required some early work. Louisville loaded the bases in the first on a hit batter, Noelvi Marte’s single and another hit batter, but Will Benson lined into a double play to end the threat. Flaherty struck out three without issuing a walk before Andre Granillo took over with one out in the third.
Granillo recorded two scoreless outs and earned the win, Brenan Hanifee followed with a scoreless fourth, and Gomber carried the staff into the eighth. Gomber allowed one run, struck out one and did not walk a batter.
Toledo gave that procession of arms its first lead in the third. Trei Cruz drove a sharp line toward the left-field wall, missing a home run only because the ball stayed too low, and slid into second with a leadoff double. After Jace Jung’s fly ball moved Cruz to third, Max Anderson ripped another ball to the wall in left for an RBI double.
The swing that gave the night its shape came from Jung in the fifth. Leading off against Ben Wereski, Jung attacked the first pitch and sent it high and deep to center, where it carried out for his 22nd home run.
Anderson walked behind him. Two outs later, James Outman lined a double into the right-field corner to bring Anderson home and stretch the margin to 3-0.
That kind of production — a quick strike from Jung, followed later by a two-out hit — matched the approach Anderson saw throughout the lineup.
“Yeah, it was awesome. The guys were aggressive, you know, just trying to finish off the year strong.”
— Max Anderson, Mud Hens Second Baseman
The Mud Hens added their last run with two outs in the seventh. Outman walked, Andrew Navigato singled up the middle and Justice Bigbie followed with a ground ball that slipped through the infield into center, scoring Outman.
Anderson said the two-out hits from Outman and Bigbie supplied the sort of separation Toledo needed.
“Yeah, yeah. You know, timely hitting is everything in baseball, and the higher up you go, the more important it becomes. And, you know, hats off to those guys for having big hits when we needed them.”
— Max Anderson, Mud Hens Second Baseman
Louisville finally broke through against Gomber in the eighth. Garrett Hampson and Francisco Urbaez opened the inning with singles, and Hampson scored when Marte grounded into a force out. A throwing error allowed Marte to reach second, but Gomber struck out Michael Chavis to prevent the inning from growing.
Mattison allowed a walk and a single in the ninth but struck out Hampson to finish his third save.
Toledo finished with nine hits. Jung went 2-for-4 with a walk and the homer, while Cruz had two hits and scored the game’s first run. Anderson doubled, walked, scored and drove in a run; Outman doubled, walked, scored and drove in another.
It was enough offense because Toledo’s pitching staff never let Louisville gather more than scattered traffic. Five pitchers, one run allowed, and one more late-season win built on a night when every handoff held.