The Evansville Otters maintained their Frontier League first-place standings lead Sunday with a 6-2 win against the Gateway Grizzlies to take the weekend series from Bosse Field.
The Otters were led on the mound by left-handed pitcher Braden Scott, who settled in after an early, first-inning run by the Grizzlies.
With a couple baserunners on, Gateway’s Ty Moore recorded an RBI groundout. From then on, Scott shut out the Grizzlies for the rest of his start.
The former Indiana Hoosier went seven innings strong, allowing the lone run, and striking out nine batters to earn the win.
Offensively, hits were at times hard to come by for Evansville against Gateway but still getting the job done, as the Otters scored on three sacrifice flies.
In the third, the Otters scored two runs on an RBI hit by Gary Mattis and on one of four Gateway errors on the day.
Leading 2-1, the Otters tacked on a run in the fifth, and then received another insurance run on a solo home run by Miles Gordon in the bottom of the sixth.
In the seventh, Evansville made it a 6-1 advantage with back-to-back sacrifice flies with the bases loaded.
Gateway added a second run in the ninth to make the final score 6-2.
Grizzlies starter Matt Mulhearn took the loss, going six innings and allowing four runs – two earned – with five strikeouts.
On Sunday, the Florence Y’alls’ game at the New Jersey Jackals was canceled due to the threat of inclement weather from Hurricane Henri. Thus, the Otters carry a 1.5 game lead in the Frontier League West Division standings into the upcoming week.
The Otters will take the field again at Bosse Field Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. to begin a three-game series against the Windy City ThunderBolts. Gates open at 5:30 p.m.
