AVON, Ohio – The Evansville Otters had an early lead before the bats fell quiet against the Lake Erie Crushers on Friday night, dropping the series opener 7-3 at Crushers Stadium.
The Otters (21-34) jumped ahead in the first inning, plating two runs to take an early lead. Dakota Phillips singled to left-center driving in one. On the play, the ball was thrown home, and Phillips moved to second. The Crushers (35-20) defense then threw the ball into center field, and another man came in to score.
Lake Erie answered with a run in the home first, before Evansville added more in the second.
Delvin Zinn singled with two outs to reach base. One batter later, Giovanni DiGiacomo singled and on a diving attempt from the Crushers’ right fielder, Zinn went from first to home as the ball kicked over to center field. That was the last run of the game for Evansville.
The turning point tonight came in the fifth frame. Lake Erie led off the inning with six base hits, five of which scored to make it a 6-3 game. They added another in the sixth to finalize the scoring.
The Crushers pitching staff recorded 19 outs in a row to finish the game. Evansville was out-hit 9-5 in the game.
Terance Marin (0-3) took the loss after giving up all seven runs, four earned, on nine hits. The righty struck out three and walked two. Pedro Echemendia (2-1) tossed in seven innings as the Lake Erie starter and took home the win.
The Otters attempt to bounce back tomorrow with a 6:05 p.m. CT first pitch to even the series against the Crushers. Coverage is available on the Otters Digital Network and FloBaseball.
