MARION, Ill.- The Evansville Otters needed only four runs to take the series against the Southern Illinois Miners 4-3 on Saturday.
Evansville (50-39) moved to 11 games above .500 for the first time since sweeping Traverse City on July 27.
Southern Illinois (35-53) had runners on first and second in the ninth inning but Otters close Randy McCurry recorded his 16th save to seal the victory.
For the second day in a row, the Otters scored two runs in the first inning. Alejandro Segovia belted a two-RBI single off the left field wall to score Ryan Long and Josh Allen.
Evansville extended their lead in the fifth inning on a two-RBI double from Dane Phillips to make it 4-0. It was Phillips’ second double of the night and 32nd of the year, putting him just three away from breaking the single season record for Evansville.
In the bottom of the fifth, a bases loaded walk for Southern Illinois’ Romeo Cortina brought in Craig Massey to make it 4-1.
The Miners scored again in the sixth as an error by Alejandro Segovia allowed Craig Massoni to cross the plate. A sacrifice fly from Ben Moore scored Massey for the second time to make it 4-3.
Otters pitching dominated for most of the night.
Hunter Ackerman recorded his eighth win of the year going five inning and striking out seven. Ackerman did get hit by a hard ground ball, but was able to continue in the fifth inning.
Zach Cooper recorded the loss for the Miners.
The Otters will look for the sweep of Southern Illinois on Sunday. First pitch is set for 5:05 p.m. at Rent One Park.
Fans can listen on 91.5 WUEV with Lucas Corley providing play-by-play coverage.
Tickets for August home games are still available by going to evansvilleotters.com or calling 812-435-8686.
