Otters drop late night thriller

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Pomona, NY – The Evansville Otters comeback fell just short in a 5-4 rain delayed loss to the New York Boulders Saturday night at Clover Stadium.

Evansville trailed by two runs entering the eighth inning. Dakota Phillips started a rally with a base hit before Josh Broughton followed by working a walk on a full-count.

Noah Myers grounded a ball to the left side that was mishandled by the Boulders’ shortstop, allowing Phillips to score.

John Dyer then fouled off numerous pitches before walking on the 13th pitch of his at-bat to load the bases with one out.

The threat ended abruptly when Evansville grounded into an double-play to end the inning.

New York scored five straight runs over two innings. Trailing 3-0, the Boulders plated their first run on an RBI double in the fourth. A solo home run then cut the Otters’ lead to one.

The Boulders took the lead in the fifth inning with a three-run inning. Three New York singles and an Evansville throwing error led to a parade of runners. The eventual game winning run scored on a sacrifice fly.

Evansville scored first for the 11th straight game as Kona Quiggle and Ethan Skender led off with base hits in the first inning and Quiggle scored on a fielder’s choice.

Skender notched his second hit of the game in the third inning before Jeffrey Baez launched a 446 foot moonshot home run onto the left field concourse to give the Otters a 3-0 lead.

The Otters’ bullpen faced the minimum over three innings of work. Tyler Vail worked a scoreless two innings. Leoni De La Cruz pitched the eighth.

Myers and Quiggle both extended their on-base streaks to 19 games. Baez’s homer is a team-best 15th on the season.

The game’s start was delayed one hour and 58 minutes due to rain at Clover Stadium.

Evansville plays for the series against New York on Sunday evening with a 4:05 PM CT first pitch from Clover Stadium. The game will be broadcast on the Otters Digital Network and simulcast on FloSports.

All home and road Otters games this season are televised on FloSports with audio-only coverage available for free on the Evansville Otters YouTube page.