JOLIET, Ill. – The Evansville Otters were blanked on Wednesday night by the Joliet Slammers, dropping a 6-0 decision at Slammers Stadium.
The Slammers (22-25) jumped ahead early and never looked back. They were guided by solid pitching, as Geno Encina (2-1) earned the win. He tossed in seven shutout innings, allowing the Otters (18-29) to garner just one hit against him.
In the opening inning, two infield singles extended the frame. Then, a bases-clearing double to left-center field from Jonathan Sierra put the Slammers ahead 3-0.
The final runs of the game came in the fifth. Sierra conducted more damage to Tristan Harvin (2-3), tallying a two-RBI base hit to make it 5-0. The next batter notched another base hit to score the last run and knock the starter out of the contest.
Evansville set a season-low in hits, picking up two tonight from Jake Green and Delvin Zinn. The club had some hard hit balls, but could not get them to drop in their defeat.
Base runners were hard to come by as well, with Green and Mendham being the only men to be aboard multiple times.
Despite the setback, the Otters still have a chance to win the series on Independence Day tomorrow. They will face the Slammers one final time in the rubber match, with a 6:35 p.m. CT first pitch. Coverage is available on the Otters Digital Network and FloBaseball.
