EVANSVILLE, Ind – The Evansville Otters (39-56) dropped the middle game of their final series against the Gateway Grizzlies (56-39) on Saturday night, 11-6. It is the first time Evansville has lost back-to-back games since August 10th.
The Otters jumped out in front early in the second. Lead off hits from JJ Cruz and Stephen Paolini led to RBI singles for Dennis Pierce and JT Benson. Through the first two innings, the Otters stranded five runners.
The Otters sent out Joan Gonzalez for his 10th start of the season but he couldn’t find consistency. After a 1-2-3 first, he allowed six in the second and two more in the third before being relieved. Ryan Wiltse followed him, getting the final out of the third and working a scoreless fourth.
Evansville found their offense in the fifth, with walks from Graham Brown and LJ Jones putting runners on the corners. Keenan Taylor hit his second home run in as many games, cutting the lead to 8-5.
Wiltse finished his night after allowing three more runs in the fifth, extending the lead back to six.
Evansville got one more on a sacrifice fly from LJ Jones but couldn’t get any more runs, falling 11-6.
The Otters bullpen finished the night with three scoreless frames. Gunnar Dennis pitched the sixth, striking out one followed by Nick McAuliffe working the seventh and sending down two via the punchout. Alex Valdez worked the final inning of the night with a strikeout.
Evansville returns to Gateway for the final game of the 2025 season with their electric rookie Alex Canney (4-1, 3.07 ERA) on the mound. The game is set for 6:05 p.m. CT tomorrow night.
