Evansville’s ace pitcher Holdgrafer struck out seven batters while allowing no walks and just six singles. He faced the minimum in six innings with the Otters’ defense turning two double plays.
The Otters started the scoring in the first inning. Kona Quiggle advanced to first on a swinging strike three, Josh Broughton notched a base hit and Jeffrey Baez hit a sacrifice fly to score Quiggle.
Evansville extended the lead with a four-run third inning. The Otters used four base hits, including a double by John Dyer as Jomar Reyes and Baez both knocked in runs.
Reyes’ big day continued in the fifth inning with a double. He scored on a balk and the Otters added another run on a Dyer sacrifice fly.
Dakota Phillips finished the scoring with a solo home run to right field in the seventh inning. Phillips’ fifth home run of the season helped the Otters hit a home run in all six games of the homestand.
Jake Polancic pitched a scoreless ninth inning to clinch the seventh shutout of the Evansville season – the most of any Frontier League team.
Holdgrafer earned his seventh win of the season, tying him for the most wins in the Frontier League. The third-year Otter pitcher improved his 2.58 ERA to the sixth best in the league.
Reyes finished the day with three hits, two runs and an RBI. Quiggle, Phillips and Noah Myers all extended on-base streaks to 14 games.
Evansville enters the final six weeks of the season a game and a half back of first place in the Frontier League West.
The Otters now hit the road for a six game trip. Evansville starts in Ohio against the Lake Erie Crushers with a 10:05 AM CT first pitch on Tuesday. The game will be broadcast on the Otters Digital Network and simulcast on FloSports.
