AUGUSTA, N.J. – The Evansville Otters departed Skylands Stadium Sunday afternoon with an 8-2 win against the Sussex County Miners, receiving solid pitching on the mound and key hits at the plate.
Evansville had early success against Sussex County starter Michael Mediavilla.
In the top of the first inning, Steven Sensley lined a hit to opposite field to drive in Jeffrey Baez for the game’s first run and give Evansville an early 1-0 lead.
The Otters jumped ahead to a 3-0 lead in the top of the third when J.R. Davis singled to right with the bases loaded to score Bryan Rosario from third and Elijah MacNamee from second.
In the meantime, Otters starting pitcher Austin Gossmann got off to a strong start, recording three strikeouts in the first couple of innings.
Sussex County did manage to score a run in each of the third and fourth innings. Juan Silverio brought in Mikey Reynolds for an unearned run in the third, while Nick Garland homered to left in the fourth.
Holding a 3-2 lead through four, Gossmann locked back in on the hill for Evansville. The right-hander struck out four more through the seventh inning.
Gossmann’s counterpart, Mediavilla, allowed three runs and struck out seven in seven innings for the Miners.
The Otters struck for four runs in the top of the eighth inning off three Miners pitchers, increasing their lead to 7-2.
Miles Gordon singled to right to score Davis and Baez to start the scoring in the inning for Evansville. Then Zach Biermann, who pinched-hit in the inning, later scored on an RBI single by Anthony Torreullas. The scoring in the eighth for Evansville finished with George Callil scoring on an error by Sussex County.
Gossmann’s day ended with one out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, handing the ball over to reliever Augie Gallardo.
Gallardo got out of the bases-loaded jam on a big double play to end the eighth inning, getting David Maberry to fly out to Gordon in centerfield. Gordon proceeded to throw out Alex Toral at home after he tagged up at third base on Maberry’s flyout.
Evansville tacked on an insurance run in the ninth on a sac fly by Gordon, picking up his third RBI of the game.
Offensively, Rosario led Evansville with a three-hit game in his debut. Sensley and Davis finished with two hits each. Davis also had a two-RBI game.
On the mound, Gossmann picked up his fifth win of the season, going 7.1 innings and striking out nine for the Otters. The Miners’ Mediavilla recorded his fifth loss of the season.
Evansville will return home to Bosse Field this week for a six-game homestand, kicking it off with a midweek series against the New York Boulders.
