Making up for a postponement on May 26, the Otters (24-38) play four games against the Y’alls (27-34) in three days.
Game 1 – Evansville 5, Florence 1
Zach Smith (5-5) proved his All-Star caliber pitching tonight. The right-hander’s command was spotty, allowing six walks but he was resilient, allowing just three hits on one run through five innings. His gutsy performance left seven Y’alls stranded on the base.
The Otters fell behind 1-0 in the first inning but bounced back in the middle innings. Dakota Phillips hit a fielder’s choice RBI to tie the game at one.
In the fifth frame, Evansville jumped ahead with a Delvin Zinn run-scoring single with two outs, and they never looked back.
The offense piled on another in the sixth, before finalizing the scoring with two in the seventh frame. To close out Game 1, the bats found five hits in a row to solidify their lead in the last inning.
Evansville garnered a hit in every inning, and the team totaled a dozen knocks to Florence’s three.
Zinn led the offense with a perfect four-for-four game at the plate with an RBI and a run scored.
Game 2 – Florence 6, Evansville 4
Similar to the opener, Florence scored first to open play. This time, they piled on three runs in the first inning.
Not backing down, the Otters showed a fight and got one back on a solo homer from Phillips in the second inning.
The Y’alls answered with a run in the home second before the Otters scored three unanswered to tie the game.
Pavin Parks laced a two-RBI double to the gap, plating two in the third. The next inning, Logan Brown hit an RBI double to tie the game at four.
That would be all the Otters could muster up. Florence took the lead in the home fourth with a run and added another in the fifth to finalize the scoring.
The Otters outhit the Y’alls 9-8 in the nightcap. Parks and Brown each garnered two hits.
The Otters will return tomorrow with an early bird special against the Y’alls. First pitch is at 10:03 a.m. CT. Coverage is available on the Otters Digital Network and FloBaseball.
