The Evansville Otters took game two of the series against the Normal Cornbelters 3-1 to even the series in front of an announced crowd of 1,754 at Bosse Field on Wednesday night.
Evansville (51-41) was outhit seven hits to five by the Cornbelters, but starter Felix Baez allowed just one run in the effort.
Normal (47-45) left 10 runners on base in the game and could not take advantage with runners on second and third in the fourth and sixth innings.
Normal was on the board in the first inning on an RBI single from Santiago Chirino to score Yeixon Ruiz. Ruiz led off the inning with a triple, his fourth of the year.
Evansville answered in the bottom half of the frame on an RBI double from Dane Phillips to plate Chris Riopedre. For Phillips, it was his 33rd double of the year placing him just one short of the Otters single season record of 34 set by Josh Allen in 2016.
The Otters got the go-ahead runs in the sixth inning on a two-RBI double from Brandon Soat to bring home Jeff Gardner and John Schultz.
Strong pitching helped power the Otters to the victory. Felix Baez struck out eight batters and gave up just seven hits in 6 and 2/3 innings. Kyano Cummings went 1 and 2/3 innings of scoreless relief before Randy McCurry came in to record his 17th save of the year.
Shawn Blackwell recorded the loss for the Cornbelters.
The Otters and the Cornbelters will play the rubber match of the series tomorrow night at 6:35 p.m. at Bosse Field.
Fans can listen on 91.5 WUEV with Preston Leinenbach (play-by-play) and Bill McKeon (color commentary) on the call.
Tickets for August home games are still available by going to evansvilleotters.com or calling 812-435-8686.
