OTTERS WIN EIGHTH IN A ROW
Jake Polancic earned a four out save shutting down the Jackals with the tying run in scoring position in both the eighth and ninth innings.
Evansville's bats struck early again, scoring in the first inning for the ninth time in eleven games this season. Kona Quiggle hit an RBI double and Jomar Reyes followed with an RBI base hit for a two run first inning.
Dakota Phillips padded the lead with a three run blast in the second inning. Reyes added to the home run party with a two run shot for his second straight day with a homer.
A 7-1 Evansville lead evaporated in the bottom of the fifth. The Jackals scored five runs to cut the lead to one, highlighted by a three-run home run from Keon Barnum.
Noah Myers provided some insurance for the Otters with a solo blast in the sixth. Evansville hit three home runs Wednesday and eight so far this week in Paterson.
James Krick pitched two innings of scoreless relief for Evansville. A Barnum solo home run for the Jackals in the eighth cut the lead back to one. The home run ended the Otters bullpen's scoreless streak at 34.1 straight scoreless innings, which dated back to opening day.
Starter Justin Watland earned the win for the Otters. He allowed six runs in five innings with seven strikeouts.
Reyes extended his hit streak to nine games with a four hit day. Quiggle finished with three hits and catcher Jake Green had a two hit day.
The Otters have hit 16 home runs on the season, good for third in the Frontier League.
The Otters look to make history with a ninth straight win Thursday evening in the series finale against the Jackals in New Jersey. First pitch from Hinchliffe Stadium is slated for 5:35 p.m. CT. A win tomorrow would tie the franchise record of nine consecutive victories set in 2008 and matched last season.
CRESTWOOD, IL - The Tri-City ValleyCats (5-6) came out on top with a 3-0 victory over the Windy City ThunderBolts (4-6) in a pitcher's duel on Wednesday at Ozinga Field.
The ValleyCats had two runners on base in the first, third, and the fourth innings, but did not score. They broke the deadlock in the seventh. Ciaran Devenney collected his first multi-hit game of the season, and began the frame with a single off ThunderBolts starter Cole Bellair. Josh Broughton cranked an RBI double to put the 'Cats on the board. Cito Culver picked up an infield single as he became the first player for Tri-City to record a four-hit game this year. Rafi Vazquez, a member of the ValleyCats rotation, came in as the designated hitter following Trey Hair's ejection on a strike three call in third. Vazquez was a two-way player in college, and he ripped an RBI single to bring in Broughton. Carson McCusker then extended his hitting streak to a team-high eight games with a single off Derrick Edington to plate Culver, and pull the ValleyCats ahead, 3-0.
Bellair (0-3) received the loss. He went 6.2 innings, giving up three runs on 11 hits, walking two, and striking out four.
Dwayne Marshall (2-0) earned the win. He only allowed two men in scoring position. Marshall fired seven shutout frames, yielding just three hits and one walk, while striking out six. It was his longest outing of the 2023 campaign, and he turned in his second straight quality start.
Reymin Guduan ran into some trouble in the eighth. He issued back-to-back singles to Matt Morgan and Paul Coumoulos to begin the frame. Guduan struck out Jake Boone before Bren Spillane singled to load the bases. Guduan buckled down, and struck out Junior Martina and Micah Yonamine to end the threat. The tall left-hander came out in ninth, and fired a 1-2-3 inning to register the six-out save — Tri-City's first of the season. Guduan racked up a season-high four strikeouts in the win.
The ValleyCats will play the rubber game to conclude their three-game set on the road against the Windy City ThunderBolts tomorrow, Thursday, May 25. First pitch is scheduled for 11:35 AM EDT.
Schaumburg, IL (May 24, 2023) – The Gateway Grizzlies fell into an early hole on Wednesday morning against the Schaumburg Boomers, but came back to tie the game in the fifth inning, then take the lead for good with three runs in the top of the eighth in a 5-2 victory at Wintrust Field, securing a split of the short, two-game series.
The Boomers plated both of their runs in the first inning against Carson LaRue, with an RBI single by Gaige Howard putting the home team ahead 1-0, and an RBI fielder's choice off the bat of Will Prater doubling the lead to 2-0. But that would be the only runs LaRue would allow in the contest, battling through five innings and holding Schaumburg's lineup off the board despite walking four in the game.
Gateway's offense struggled early against Boomers starter Aaron Glickstein, but they broke through in the top of the fifth. With two outs and Mark Vierling on second base, Eric Rivera pulled an RBI double inside the first base bag to make it a 2-1 game. Gabe Holt followed with a clutch RBI single that tied the score at 2-2. In the bottom of the inning, Kyle Fitzgerald singled with two outs and men on first and second, but Andrew Penner threw out Miles Simington at home plate trying to score the go-ahead run to preserve the tie.
The score remained tied until the top of the eighth, when Clint Freeman and Peter Zimmermann drew back-to-back leadoff walks off Boomers reliever Merfy Andrew (0-1). After a pitching change, Jairus Richards gave Gateway their first lead with an RBI double down off of first base, making the score 3-2. D.J. Stewart followed by driving in both Zimmermann and Richards with a clutch double of his own, making it a 5-2 Gateway lead.
That was all that the Grizzlies needed to secure the win, as Zac Ryan and Sam Gardner tossed scoreless innings out of the bullpen to finish off the game, with Gardner securing his second save. Stewart and Freeman each had a pair of hits to extend their hit streaks to 11 games in a row to begin the season, while Rivera also joined them in the two-hit club as Gateway improved to 7-4 on the season.
The Grizzlies will conclude their Chicagoland road trip with a single game on Thursday, May 25, at 6:35 p.m. against the Windy City ThunderBolts at Ozinga Field. Collin Sullivan will make the start for Gateway before they return home for the Memorial Day weekend against the Joliet Slammers
WASHINGTON, PA – Despite trailing for the first six innings of the game, the Florence Y'alls (6-5) broke out for four runs in the seventh inning against the Washington Wild Things (6-5) in a 4-2 win on Wednesday. With the victory, the Y'alls clinched a series win over the Wild Things for the first time since August 2021.
After a 12-run outburst in Game 1, Florence could not match its offensive pace during the game's early stages. Washington lefthanded starter Kobe Foster dazzled en route to six innings of shutout baseball. The southpaw allowed just three hits, walked two, and struck out nine Florence hitters. While Foster was in the game, the Y'alls advanced just two runners into scoring position. On the other side, Florence starter Mike Kickham turned in his longest start of the year (4.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER).
The game changed once Washington dipped into its bullpen in the seventh. Righthander Anthony Boix relieved Foster and found immediate trouble, walking Florence third baseman Andres Rios to lead off the inning before immediately surrendering an RBI triple to shortstop Jeremiah Burks that tied the game 1-1. Designated hitter Sam Plash then grounded a triple of his own down the right field line to score Burks from third and give the Y'alls a 2-1 lead. A double down the left field line by center fielder Cole Brannen off lefthander Andrew Mitchell plated Plash from third, and a Marcos Castillo triple to dead center field scored Brannen to make it 4-1.
Washington scored a run in the eighth on a solo home run from center fielder Robert Chayka and put runners on second and third with one out against Florence lefthander Kent Klyman. With the score 4-2 and the tying run at second base, righthander Cam Pferrer entered to strike out pinch-hitter Ian Walters to end the threat. The Wild Things stranded 14 runners on the evening and grounded into a ninth-inning double play to end the game.
Florence now leads the series 2-0 and has won its first series of the year against Washington. The Y'alls try to sweep the Wild Things on Thursday, May 25 at Wild Things Park. First pitch is at 7:05 PM ET.
