The Evansville Otters once again received late-inning offense in order to win their third game in a row Wednesday night 4-0 against the Gateway Grizzlies from Bosse Field.
Through the first six and a half innings, the two clubs traded phenomenal pitching performances. Before Otters starter Marty Anderson was removed for precautionary reasons ahead of the fifth inning, he had thrown four scoreless two-hit innings.
His replacement, University of Southern Indiana Class of 2021 graduate Austin Gossmann, pitched a brilliant game out of the bullpen in his professional debut, throwing three perfect frames while striking out five. The dominant performance earned Gossmann his first professional win as well.
The Otters broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the seventh, when Dakota Phillips singled home Riley Krane from second with a base hit to right field. The next batter, Bryce Denton, cleared the basepaths with a three-run blast, his second of the season, to left field that gave the Otters their final 4-0 lead.
Samson Abernathy pitched a scoreless eighth, but after loading the bases with two outs in the top of the ninth, but would be relieved by Otters closer Logan Sawyer.
Sawyer came on to strike out the only batter he faced, closing out the 4-0 victory and earning the save, his fourth of the season.
The loss went to Jorge Tavarez, the Grizzlies’ starter.
The Otters and Grizzlies will meet again Thursday night in the third and final game of the series with a chance for the Otters to sweep. First pitch will be at 6:35 p.m, with a 6:20 p.m. pregame show on Frontier League LiveTV.
Thursday night is Working Distributors Thirsty Thursday, featuring discounted domestic drafts and cans. Plus, it’s a collaborative celebration for Bosse Field’s 106th anniversary and Evan the Otter’s birthday.
