JOLIET, Ill. – The Evansville Otters allowed four eighth-inning insurance runs to the Joliet Slammers, falling 10-5 in the series finale.
Starters Brett Adcock and Spencer Johnston were great out of the gate, each working four scoreless innings to start the game.
In the top of the fifth, Evansville finally found the run (and hit) column with a pair of singles, setting up Andy Armstrong’s two-run single.
The 2-0 lead vanished quickly in the bottom half of the fifth, as Matt McGarry hit a bases-clearing three-run triple to give Joliet the lead. Two batters later, another run scored on Lane Baremore’s RBI single.
The Slammers found two more runs in the inning on a JP Fullerton two-run double.
Evansville began their comeback attempt in the sixth when Elijah MacNamee hit a two-run single, bringing the Otters to within two.
The game sat still into the eighth inning when again the Otters worked at the Joliet lead. After Zach Biermann reached on a fielder’s choice, J.R. Davis hit an RBI triple to bring the Otters within one, 6-5.
But the bottom of the eighth favored the Slammers, who found four runs of insurance. Carson Maxwell brought in the first run on an RBI single.
Shortly after, Phillip Steering grabbed a second run with an RBI single of his own. The final two insurance runs scored on Tyler Depreta-Johnson’s two-run single.
The Otters managed a base runner in the ninth but failed to bring any home, falling 10-5 in the series finale Sunday afternoon.
The win belonged to Spencer Johnston, who stayed composed in the late innings. Brett Adcock, who was chased in the fifth inning, received the loss.
Davis, MacNamee and Jeffrey Baez all had multi-hit days for Evansville. Miles Gordon had his 21-game on-base streak come to an end.
The Otters return home Tuesday night to face off with the Windy City ThunderBolts. First pitch from historic Bosse Field is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. on a Taco Tuesday.
