Thanks to two home runs and an offensive surge, the Gateway Grizzlies impressed their fans on the Fourth of July with a 10-3 rubber match win over the Evansville Otters.
Gateway opened the scoring in the bottom of the third, when Dylan Jones came home to score from third on a 3-6-3 double play. The Grizzlies thus took a 1-0 lead against Otters’ starter Austin Gossmann.
Gateway broke the game open in the top of the fourth, as Dustin Woodcock hit a two-run homer that left GCS Credit Union Ballpark, giving the Grizzlies a 3-0 advantage. Gateway would add their third and final run of the inning after Ty Moore hit a two-out RBI single, driving home Nick Rotola. Gateway then led 4-0.
There the score would hold until the bottom of the seventh, when the Grizzlies piled on for a five-run seventh. Samson Abernathy relieved Austin Gossmann after he had tossed six innings of four-run ball, striking out five and walking none.
After two one-out singles off Abernathy, Andres Regnault smacked his third home run of the series, hitting a three-run shot to right field. Gateway picked up two more runs as Connor Owings and Justin Jones managed back-to-back, two-out RBI doubles off of Otters reliever Jacob Bowles, who was relieved after a two-out walk to Nick Rotola. The score was then 9-0.
The Otters put their first and only runs on the board in the top of the eighth, when Riley Krane hit a three-run home run to right, his sixth of the season.
Gateway added another run in the bottom half of that inning, as Ty Moore scored on an RBI-double from Dustin Woodcock against Justin Lewis, who gave up just the one run in his one inning of relief. From there the score would hold, 10-3.
Jordan Barrett (2-3) earned the win, while Austin Gossmann (2-2) took the loss.
Evansville will return home for a six-game homestand that opens Tuesday against the Joliet Slammers. First pitch in that game will be at 6:35 p.m.
Tuesday is Taco Tuesday at Bosse Field, featuring tacos, nachos, frozen margaritas, walking tacos, and discounted Corona and Modelo.
