Josh Allen’s second walk-off home run of the season gave the Evansville Otters a dramatic 5-4 victory over the Florence Freedom to open the weekend series at Bosse Field in front of 3,278.
Allen’s two-out homer in the ninth off Florence’s Matt Kaster came after the Freedom tied the game at 4-4 in the top half of the inning when Collins Cuthrell hit a solo home run off Randy McCurry.
The game was delayed 30 minutes because of a brief shower and once it started, it was Florence taking an early lead.
In the second, a Cuthrell sacrifice fly scored both Andrew Godbold and Jordan Brower, giving the Freedom a 2-0 lead.
An inning later, Jose Brizuela hit a solo home run to extend the advantage to 3-0.
Evansville had an answer in the bottom half of the inning when Allen scored Brandon Soat on an RBI ground out, cutting the deficit to 3-1.
John Schultz’s RBI double in the fifth made it 3-2. Soat hit a two-run home run in the sixth, scoring Nick Walker, which gave the Otters a 4-3 lead.
McCurry earned the victory and improved to 1-1 after blowing a save opportunity. He pitched an inning, giving up one earned run off a hit.
Diego Ibarra started for Evansville and went six innings, giving up three earned runs off six hits. He struck out six and walked two. Kyano Cummings pitched the seventh and eighth and he struck out two.
Kaster took the loss, pitching 2/3 innings before giving up the game-winning homer to Allen.
Offensively, Soat finished 2 for 5 with two runs and two RBIs for Evansville. Allen was 2 for 4 with two runs and two RBIs and Schultz was 1 for 4 with an RBI.
The Otters improved to 24-18 while the Freedom fell to 30-13.
Saturday is a doubleheader at Bosse Field with game one on Poster Pickup Day beginning at 5:35 p.m. Game two will be played approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one. Posters from the first three decade promotion nights will be available for fans who missed the previous games.
Tickets are still available by going to evansvilleotters.com or calling 812-435-8686.
Both games will be streamed live on Otters Digital Network and over the air on 91.5 FM WUEV. Lucas Corley (play-by-play) and Bill McKeon (analysis) will call the action.
The Evansville Otters are the 2006 and 2016 Frontier League champions. Group packages and single game tickets are now on sale. For more information, visit evansvilleotters.com or call 812-435-8686.
