Evansville Otters pitcher Patrick McGuff was dominant once again, striking out 11 batters in eight innings as part of a 3-0 win for the Otters against the Washington Wild Things Tuesday night.
The Otters right-hander had his pitching arsenal working, going eight innings, surrendering just five hits and no runs, and striking out 11.
With the win, McGuff is 3-0 with a 0.96 ERA in the 2019 season. The Hamilton, Ohio native has also struck out 40 batters this season.
On McGuff’s eleventh strikeout, the batter, Lucas Herbert, slammed his bat on home plate three times, breaking it and getting thrown out of the game in the process.
Offensively, Evansville’s Ryan Long hit his fifth home run of the season, a solo shot over the Bud Light Lime Patio in right field to give the Otters a 1-0 lead after four innings.
In the sixth, Keith Grieshaber doubled off the wall in left-center with one out, putting himself in scoring position.
After a Ryan Long walk, Carlos Castro smacked a single through the middle of the field to score Grieshaber, extending the Otters lead to 2-0.
Castro’s hit would end the night for Washington starter Michael Austin, who pitched admirably as well, tossing 5.2 innings, giving up two runs on four hits with two strikeouts.
J.J. Gould made the score 3-0 Otters with his second RBI of the season when he singled in the seventh, scoring Jack Meggs.
Danny Hrbek retired three batters in the top of the ninth on flyouts, earning his first save of the season.
The Wild Things had two opportunities to put runs on the board, having the bases loaded with two outs in the third, and men on first and second with one out in the eighth, but McGuff ended those threats with a strikeout.
The Otters and Wild Things square off again from Bosse Field on Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. on Deaconess Skilled Nursing Facility Night.
Dave Nguyen (play-by-play) and Bill McKeon (analyst) will have the broadcast coverage on 91.5 FM WUEV and evansvilleotters.com, with video streaming available via the Otters Digital Network on YouTube.com.
