WASHINGTON, Pa. – The Evansville Otters took home a nail-biting 5-4 win against the Washington Wild Things Thursday night at Wild Things Park.
After falling behind early, the Otters (21-33) scored five unanswered runs in the back half of the game to avoid the Wild Things (35-18) sweep.
In their first win of the season against Washington, the Otters tallied 11 hits, led by Delvin Zinn and Randy Bednar, each garnering a pair of knocks. Zinn also scored three times and swiped four bases.
Making his return off the injured list tonight, Parker Brahms (3-5) was shaky out of the gates but settled down quickly. He did not allow a run in his final three frames, tossing six innings in his quality start. The righty earned the win after allowing a trio of runs on four hits with three walks and as many strikeouts.
Grif Hughes struck out four as the first reliever. His only blemish was a solo home run in his second inning, while Michael McAvene (Sv. 6) slammed the door in the ninth.
For the first time in this series, Washington jumped on the board first with a two-run homer in the opening frame. They added another in the third, but then went quiet while Evansville made their comeback.
Down 3-0, three doubles in a row led off the fifth inning from Dakota Phillips, Bednar and Zinn. Bednar was thrown out at third trying to stretch two bases into three, but the Otters scored their first run amidst their ignition with the bats. Later in the frame, Alec Olund picked up an RBI base hit to score Zinn and make it a 3-2 game.
Evansville took the lead in the seventh inning. After back-to-back lead off singles, Olund grounded into a 5-2-6-5 fielder’s choice. While Bednar was tagged out in between third and home, it allowed the other two runners to move into scoring position.
Three batters later with the bases loaded and two outs, Giovanni DiGiacomo drove home the game winning runs with a base hit back up the middle, making it a 4-3 game.
Needed insurance came in during the eighth inning. Zinn struck out but reached first on a wild pitch that went to the backstop. After stealing second and third base, he scored on a Logan Brown RBI bloop single to left field.
In the home eighth, the Wild Things answered with a run. They also picked up two base hits in the final inning, but were shut down with the tying run on second base, and the winning run on first as Evansville held on to win the contest.
