Louisville Edges Nashville 5-3 as Sounds Drop Series Opener

NASHVILLE – The Nashville Sounds fell 5-3 to the Louisville Bats on Saturday night at First Horizon Park, dropping the opener of their weekend series. After rallying to tie the game in the fifth inning, the Sounds stranded the bases loaded and watched Louisville push across two unearned runs in the seventh to secure the victory.

Left-hander Tate Kuehner started for Nashville and worked five innings, allowing three runs on four hits with one walk and three strikeouts. The Bats grabbed a 2-0 lead in the third on consecutive hits and extended the advantage to 3-0 when Orlando Arcia led off the fourth with a home run.

Nashville answered in the fifth. Tyler Black and Ramon Rodriguez delivered back-to-back two-out doubles before Ethan Murray’s RBI single cut the deficit to one. Later in the inning, the Sounds loaded the bases against reliever Jared Lyons, but Rodriguez flied out to right to end the threat and keep the score knotted at 3-3.

Gerson Garabito tossed a clean sixth but ran into trouble in the seventh. Two singles and a hit batter loaded the bases with one out. A ground ball that should have produced an inning-ending double play instead became the night’s only error, allowing two runs to score and giving Louisville a 5-3 lead it would not relinquish.

Connor Phillips and Hunter Parks combined to retire the final nine Sounds batters, with both pitchers striking out the side in their respective innings.

Ethan Murray continued his strong stretch, going 2-for-4 with an RBI to extend his on-base streak to 19 consecutive games — the longest active streak on the Sounds roster and tied for the 11th-longest in the International League. Tyler Black added a double and two walks while stretching his own on-base streak to 17 games. Akil Baddoo also recorded a multi-hit night.

The Sounds and Bats wrap up the season series Sunday afternoon at First Horizon Park. First pitch is scheduled for 12:05 p.m., with left-hander Colton Gordon (7-7, 4.18 ERA) set to start for Nashville.