he Omaha Storm Chasers’ bats went quiet on Sunday afternoon, as they were shut out by the Iowa Cubs 2-0 in the series finale at Werner Park, preventing Omaha from completing the weekend sweep.
Iowa jumped out to an early lead, scoring two runs on a walk and a home run within the first two batters of the game. Storm Chasers starting pitcher Andrew Hoffmann settled in after the rocky start, allowing just four singles and striking out five through five innings, but the offense couldn’t provide any run support.
The Omaha bullpen kept the team within striking distance, as Walter Pennington, Dan Altavilla, Steven Cruz, and Will Klein combined for four scoreless innings, with Pennington and Klein each striking out three batters. As a staff, the Storm Chasers recorded 11 strikeouts, marking the third consecutive game with 10 or more strikeouts.
Despite the strong pitching effort, the Storm Chasers struggled to generate offense throughout the game. They were limited to five singles, with their best scoring opportunity coming in the sixth inning when they loaded the bases on a Nick Pratto single and walks by Nate Eaton and Tyler Gentry. However, a double play ended the threat, leaving the tying run stranded in scoring position.
Pratto extended his season-opening hitting streak to three games with his single, while CJ Alexander and Logan Porter each contributed two-hit performances. Eaton drew two walks off the bench in the loss.
“It’s tough to win when you can’t put runs on the board,” said Storm Chasers manager Mike Jirschele. “Our pitching staff did a great job keeping us in the game, but we just couldn’t come up with the big hits when we needed them. We’ll regroup and look to get back on track in Columbus.”
The Storm Chasers (2-1) now hit the road for a six-game series against the Columbus Clippers at Huntington Park, with the series opener set for Tuesday at 5:15 p.m. CT.
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