The Y’alls got out in front early in the first frame. They were able to score two on a single, but a quick double play to the next batter stopped the bleeding.
The first for Evansville was phenomenal. Dennis Pierce set the tone with a leadoff single. Graham Brown followed that up with an RBI double to immediately answer Florence. An interference call put runners on first and second for JT Benson. On the first pitch of the at bat, Benson sent a ball over the left field wall to jump the Otters in front, 4-2. Later on in the inning, Keenan Taylor continued his scorching hot season with an RBI hit to make it 5-2.
The starter for Evansville, Pavin Parks, settled in after that first inning and worked around a couple of baserunners in the second and third and flashed zeroes on the board.
Florence did score two in the fourth to come within one. With the score at 5-4, the bullpen was able to work well through the next couple of frames.
In the seventh, the Y’alls struck again, scoring on a double to tie the game at 5-5. Despite the score being tied, Evansville pitched well in the back half of the game.
Casey Delgado was called upon in the ninth with the score still tied. He gave up a one-out single but pitched around it, getting the next two batters to fly out.
Alex Valdez then entered in the 10th after Evansville couldn’t score in the ninth. Even with the commissioner’s runners on second, Valdez was locked in. He struck out two batters, including the final out of the inning, to send it to the bottom of the tenth still at 5-5.
In the bottom of the 10th, Ellis Schwartz pinch ran for Pierce to begin the inning at second base as the commissioner’s runner. After a quick groundout, Florence elected to intentionally walk both David Mendham and Benson to load the bases. This brought up LJ Jones, who was celebrating his 26th birthday, in the big moment. He lined a fastball deep to center field and over the head of the center fielder to walk it off.
The Otters bullpen combined for six strikeouts over the final four innings. Meanwhile, the offense got their third walk off win of the season.
The Otters are back in action Saturday night for Jurassic Ballpark Night for the second game of this series at 6:35 p.m.
