The Evansville Otters split a Saturday doubleheader with the Southern Illinois Miners at home Saturday night, capturing the late night cap 4-2 after falling 4-0 in the first game.
The Miners opened the scoring in game one when Nolan Earley picked up an RBI on a ground ball base hit to centerfield with one out that scored Jarrod Watkins from second.
Austin Gossmann settled back down in innings two through four, retiring nine in a row. In the top of the fifth, Anthony Brocato extended the Miners’ lead by jumping yard with a three-run home run to right, pushing the score to 4-0.
Chase Cunningham took care of the Otters throughout game one, blanking Evansville in seven innings. Cunningham, the reigning Frontier League Pitcher of the Year, picked up his second win of the season.
Gossmann finished out the last two innings, going the abbreviated distance, and leaving Evansville’s bullpen intact for game two.
Game two began in favor of the Otters with a four-run first. J.R. Davis doubled home Miles Gordon for the first run of the ballgame, before Riley Krane singled home Andy DeJesus for Evansville’s second run of the day.
Andretty Cordero capped off the inning with two-run knock to the left of the second base bag, giving the Otters a 4-0 advantage.
Braden Scott did his job on the mound for the Otters, handing off the baseball in the top of the fourth to Tyler Spring with two aboard and one out and the four run lead intact.
Spring would get the final two outs of the inning after a walk issued to Carson Bartels, thanks to a sac fly from Yeltsin Gudino and strikeout of Nolan Earley to end the inning with a 4-1 lead.
Spring would pitch a scoreless fifth, picking up two more strikeouts, before Otters reliever Taylor Wright took over matters to begin the sixth.
Anthony Brocato tallied the last run of the doubleheader with a home run to left — his second of the day — off Wright that brought Southern Illinois within two.
Otters closer Logan Sawyer would lock down the save with a 1-2-3 ninth, striking out Ian Walters to end the ballgame and send the Otters to a 4-2 victory in game two.
Tyler Spring earned the win out of the bullpen, while Sawyer earned his tenth save.
Evansville will square off against the Southern Illinois Miners in the series rubber match for a Dog Days of Summer Sunday at the ballpark. First pitch is scheduled for 5:05 p.m.
