SAUGET, Ill. -Â Following strong pitching through the first eight innings Saturday, Logan Sawyer closed out a 3-1 win for the Evansville Otters against the Gateway Grizzlies after a brief rain delay going to the bottom of the ninth inning.
The game started in a scoreless tie through the first two innings, but the Otters crossed home plate first in the third inning.
Elijah MacNamee put the Otters ahead 1-0 on an RBI single that extended his on-base streak to 35 games.
In the bottom half of the third, Gateway evened things up at 1-1, capitalizing on a two-out error by George Callil. Two batters after the error, an RBI single from Cesar Trejo did the trick.
Evansville quickly retook the lead, as Jeffrey Baez hit a solo home run to dead center field in the fourth inning, lifting the Otters to a 2-1 lead.
After a scoreless fifth inning, Evansville grabbed a 3-1 lead on an RBI double off the top of the wall from Andy Armstrong.
Starting pitcher Austin Gossmann delivered five strong innings on the mound before handing the ball to Jacob Bowles for two scoreless innings and another scoreless frame by Augie Gallardo in the eighth.
Midway through the ninth, a 10-minute rain delay halted things on the field as Logan Sawyer took the mound.
Once the delay concluded, Sawyer returned to the mound, dispatching the Grizzlies in 1-2-3 fashion to earn his league-leading 13th save of the season and seal the Otters’ fifth straight victory.
Austin Gossmann grabbed the win in his first start since coming off the injured list, allowing just one unearned run on seven hits in five complete innings. Justin Ferrell dropped to 1-1, allowing two runs on five Evansville hits in his five innings.
Armstrong recorded two hits for a second straight game, alongside Steven Sensley and MacNamee.
The series continues Sunday night from GCS Credit Union Ballpark at 6:45 p.m., coverage on the Evansville Otters YouTube page begins at 6:35 p.m.
