O’Fallon, Mo. – The Evansville Otters had a tough night Friday at the plate and in the field, falling in the series opener at the River City Rascals 6-1.
River City jumped out to a 3-0 lead through two innings, taking advantage of a pair of defensive miscues by the Otters.
Anthony Maselli, with the sun in his eyes, overthrew Keith Grieshaber at second base in his attempt to get out Andrew Penner. Rob Calabrese then overthrew Maselli at third base trying to tag out Tanner Murphy, but Murphy would touch home to give the Rascals a two-run advantage. Penner would score on a single from Trevor Achenbach, who extended his hitting streak to 21 games.
Maselli bounced back from the overthrow by hitting his first home run as an Otter in the top of the third to make the score 3-1.
From there, Rascals starter Dalton Roach settled in strongly. He went six innings, allowing the home run to Maselli on three hits with eight strikeouts.
Former Otter Tanner Cable came into the game in the seventh and eighth innings, shutting the door on his former team, having two strikeouts.
Otters starter Randy Wynne was chased in the seventh, allowing three of his five earned runs, including a two-run home run to JD Hearn, to give the Rascals a 6-1 lead. In addition to his six run – five earned, – Wynne also had seven strikeouts in 6.2 innings pitched.
The Otters had the bases loaded in the top of the ninth with two outs, but Keith Grieshaber struck out to end the threat and the game, giving the Rascals a 6-1 win.
The Otters had one run on four hits, and a total of three errors in the field.
Evansville will look to bounce back Saturday at 6:35 p.m. when Tyler Beardsley takes the mound for the Otters against Joe Mortillaro of River City. The game can be heard on 91.5 FM WUEV and evansvilleotters.com with Dave Nguyen on the call.
The Otters are having many promotions in honor of celebrating their 25th anniversary season in 2019.
The Otters return home on Tuesday, May 28 when they face the Washington Wild Things for the first $2 Tuesday of the season. General Admission tickets and popcorn can be purchased for $2.
To purchase a season ticket or group outing package, call (812) 435-8686 or visit the Bosse Field front office at 23 Don Mattingly Way, Evansville, Ind. The front office is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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