Otters and Cornbelters split Tuesday doubleheader

NORMAL, Ill.- The Evansville Otters and the Normal Cornbelters split a pair of games on Tuesday, with Normal winning 8-2 in game one, and Evansville winning 4-3 in game two.

 Evansville (21-18) took the second game behind a pair of home runs from Chris Riopedre and Lance Montano in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Normal (21-20) posted 12 hits in the first game and took advantage of two Otters errors in the win. 

The first game was delayed in the bottom of the sixth inning due to an issue with the turf on the mound.  

The field crew was forced to suspend the game until 6:30 p.m. when the teams played out the remainder of the game.

In the game one, Normal jumped out to an early lead with an RBI double from Aaron Dudley that scored Santiago Chirino.

A Nolan Meadows RBI single scored Dudley to make it 2-0. 

The Otters posted a run in the top of the third inning when Jeff Gardner hit an RBI double to score Riopedre to make it 2-1. 

Evansville tied the game in the top of the fourth inning on an RBI from Kolten Yamaguchi that scored Riopedre. 

It would be all Cornbelters from there. 

In the bottom of the fourth inning, an RBI single from Craig Lepre scored Miguel Torres to give Normal a 3-2 lead. 

Normal added on five more runs in the bottom of the fifth.

A Torres sacrifice fly scored Meadows to open up the scoring.

A two RBI double from Yeixon Ruiz scored Justin Fletcher and Diego Cedeno.  

Chirino then delivered on a two RBI single to score Lepre and Ruiz to make it 8-2.

Normal’s Charlie Gillies recorded the wins giving up just three hits. Gillies is now 3-3 on the year. 

Luc Rennie record his first loss of the season. 

Rennie gave up a season high nine hits in 4 2/3 innings of work. Rennie is 2-1 this season. 

In game two, the Otters were the first on the board in the second inning.

RBI singles from Brandon Soat and Many De Jesus scored Jeff Gardner and Riopedre respectively to make it 2-0.

The Cornbelters evened the score in the bottom of the inning. 

A Torres RBI single scored Justin Fletcher and Cedeno scored on a Lance Montano error.

In the third inning, Normal would take the lead on a solo home run from Ruiz to make it 3-2. 

However, the Otters came up with heroics in the top of the sixth inning.

Chris Riopedre sneaked a home run over the left field wall to even the score at 3-3. It was Riopedre’s third home run this year.

Two batters later, Lance Montano launched his second home run of the season to give the Otters a 4-3 lead. 

That score would hold as Randy McCurry recorded his tenth save of the year. 

Hasten Freeman recorded his first win in 2017.

Freeman went one inning of relief giving up just one hit.

Francisco Carillo recorded his first loss of the year for Normal.

Carillo gave up both home runs to the Otters in the sixth.

Jason Broussard also made his first start for Evansville this year.

Broussard went four innings giving up three hits and three runs, striking out two in the effort. 

The Otters and Cornbelters will return to action tomorrow afternoon at The Corn Crib.

First pitch is set for 1:35 p.m. 

Fans can listen to Wednesday’s game live on 91.5 WUEV. Lucas Corley will provide play-by-play coverage. 

Evansville will return to Bosse Field for Edward Jones Night Friday at 6:35 p.m. The game will feature a postgame fireworks show and tickets are still available at evansvilleotters.com or by calling 812-435-8686.

The Evansville Otters are the 2006 and 2016 Frontier League champions. Group packages and single game tickets are now on sale. For more information, visit evansvilleotters.com or call 812-435-8686.