AUGUSTA, N.J. – The Evansville Otters were in striking distance of the Sussex County Miners multiple times Saturday, but the chances would not fall the Otters’ way in a tight 5-3 loss to the Miners.
Evansville tallied the first run of the game in the top of the first inning off a sac fly by Jeffrey Baez to score Miles Gordon.
Sussex County answered in the bottom of the first on an RBI single by Juan Silverio.
The Miners took a 3-1 lead in the home half of the second when Alex Toral collected a two-RBI double off Evansville starter Brett Adcock.
Adcock locked the game in at that score with four consecutive shutout innings through the middle portion of the game.
Evansville forced Sussex County to go to the bullpen early, as Sussex County removed starting pitcher Jimmy Boyce after four innings for James Mulry.
The Otters closed the gap to one with a run off of Mulry in the top of the seventh, as Anthony Torreullas recorded a sac fly RBI to drive home Justin Felix.
Evansville would strand the bases loaded in the seventh to end their rally.
Adcock pitched seven innings deep for Evansville, but one more unearned run would score toward his final line in the bottom of the seventh after an Otters error and giving the Miners a 4-2 edge.
Each club split run-scoring fielder’s choices in the eighth, leading to a 5-3 Miners lead and the game’s final score.
Mulry picked up his third win for Sussex County in three innings of long relief, while Adcock was given his second loss of the season. Robert Klinchock recorded his sixth save for the Miners, pitching the last 1.2 innings.
Gordon was the only Otter with multiple hits – two, while Baez and Torreullas had the only RBIs.
