Joan Gonzalez made his ninth start of the season and delivered another solid outing. He worked through some traffic through four frames stranding six runners and allowing just one run.
The Otters offense came alive in the fourth with some help from a couple hard hits. After a single from JT Benson, LJ Jones reached after a ball got stuck in the glove of a defender. Keenan Taylor hit a double to tie the game followed by Cohen Wilbanks getting hit by a pitch. Justin Felix stepped in and ambushed a first-pitch fastball for Evansville’s second grand slam of the season to jump the Otters out in front 5-1. After a scoreless frame from Gonzalez, Taylor hit a second double to add two more runs to the lead at 7-1.
Gonzalez went out for the sixth but some soft contact and a walk scored a run. The bases were loaded and Nick McAuliffe slammed the door, getting three outs while allowing just one inherited run to score on a sacrifice fly.
Evansville entered the bottom of the sixth with a 7-3 lead and Felix added to it with his second home run of the game. Five separate Otters now have had multi-homer games this season.
Jackson Malouf started the seventh and after a single and two quick outs, two singles loaded the bases. Alex Valdez got the final out of the seventh, allowing a run to score but maintaining an 8-4 lead for Evansville.
After a couple of walks in the seventh, Taylor hit his third double and recorded his fourth RBI to extend Evansville’s lead to 9-4. Valdez came back and worked a scoreless eighth, then Gunnar Dennis finished it up with three strikeouts to secure the Otters’ 9-4 win.
Evansville has now won six of Gonzalez’s last seven starts and he has earned five wins in that time. Taylor’s four and Felix’s five RBIs combined for all of Evansville’s runs in today’s ballgame.
The Otters get a rest day on Monday before hosting Florence for the final three games at Bosse Field in 2025. The 6:35 p.m. CT game is the final Fifth Third Bank $2 Tuesday of the season with gates opening at 5:30.
