The Evansville Otters battled until the final out but ultimately fell 13-11 to the Normal CornBelters on Tuesday night at Bosse Field in front of 1,061 fans.
Andrew Godbold singled home Derrick Loveless to open the scoring for Normal in the first inning.
Evansville answered on an RBI double from Jeff Gardner to tie the game after one frame.
Ryan Long pushed the Otters ahead in the second with a bases clearing triple.
Godbold came through with his second RBI single of the game, driving home Santiago Chirino in the third to trim Evansville’s lead to 4-2.
Normal tied the game up on a two-run double from Michael Baca in the fourth.
A two-run triple for Chris Iriart put the CornBelters on top in the fifth. Cody Erickson then drove home Iriart to make it 8-4 Normal. A throwing error from Gould on an attempted double play allowed two more runs to score and made the score 10-4 in favor of the CornBelters.
Austin Bush got one back in the bottom of the fifth on a solo homer, his second of the year.
Travis Harrison then made it a 10-6 game in the sixth with a sacrifice fly.
Normal extended their lead with three runs in the seventh. A bases loaded walk to Godbold forced home a run and Sean Hurley then followed with a two run single to make give Normal a 13-6 lead.
The Otters once again got back in to the game, this time with five runs in the seventh. Long drove in his fourth run of the game with a single and then with the bases loaded Gardner cleared the bags with a double to make it a 13-10 game. Brant Whiting singled home a run to cap off the inning and push the Otters to within two runs.
That would be as close as the Otters would get however, as Jonathan De Marte slammed the door shut with a perfect ninth to give Normal the 13-11 win.
Connor Root gets the win for Normal, going five innings, allowing five runs on eight hits while walking four and striking out two.
Tyler Beardsley is hit with the loss, his seventh of the season. Beadsley went 4.1 innings, giving up nine runs, eight earned, on 12 hits while punching out five hitters and walking just one.
The Otters and CornBelters continue their series tomorrow, with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m. at Bosse Field.
