The Evansville Otters did enough to come out in front of a pitcher’s duel Tuesday night, taking the series opener at the Joliet Slammers 3-1.
Rob Calabrese provided a pair timely of RBI hits and pitcher Randy Wynne pitched his way into the ninth.
Evansville jumped in front first in the top of the second inning.
Dakota Phillips led-off with a double to put the Otters in scoring position. Phillips advanced to third on a balk. A few batters later, Rob Calabrese lined a double to the outfield to score Phillips and put the Otters on the board.
After Ryan Long walked to begin the top of the fourth, Carlos Castro lined an RBI double all the way to the wall in right-centerfield, allowing Long to score from first and extend the Otters lead to two.
After Hunter Cullen flied out to left, Calabrese knocked in his second RBI of the game with a single to score Castro, giving the Otters a 3-0 lead.
Calabrese picked up his fourth RBI in the last two games.
The three runs were all Randy Wynne needed on the mound for the Otters.
Wynne would pitch into the ninth, aiming for his first complete game of the season. He retired leadoff hitter Chaz Meadows on a flyout to Cullen, but the right-hander was pulled after Tyler Coolbaugh singled to right field.
Wynne finished with 8.1 innings, fanning six while allowing a run on seven hits and issued no walks. The lone run came in the bottom of the seventh as the Slammers strung three consecutive singles together, highlighted by an RBI single from Ridge Hoopii-Haslem that scored Tyler Crane.
Abraham Almonte came in to relieve Wynne in the ninth inning, recording the second out of the inning as Crane lined out to Jack Meggs in right for the second out. The lefty was pulled after walking Brian Parreira.
With runners on first and second and a full count to Hoopii-Haslem, Danny Hrbek threw a fastball on the inside corner for a called strike three to earn his third save of the year, giving Wynne his fourth win of the season.
Joliet starter Tyler Jandron tried to go toe-to-toe with Wynne, but was not able to go the distance. He pitched seven innings, allowing three runs on five hits while sending down seven Otters.
