Dennis Pierce got the Otters going early with a leadoff triple, but he would be stranded there after three straight outs.
Ryan Wiltse made his fifth start of the season and gave a really good spot start. He allowed a run in the first, but stranded the bases loaded. Two baserunners reached in the second, but a great diving catch from J.T. Benson in right field saved two runs. Wiltse allowed a leadoff home run in the third, but really settled in afterwards. He got two strikeouts to end the third, and two in each of the fourth and fifth innings to end with nine on his evening, leaving the game with a 2-0 deficit.
Nolan Thebiay followed Wiltse and picked up where he left off by striking out the side in the sixth.
Evansville’s offense after the triple from Pierce was mostly quiet. That was until Keenan Taylor launched a ball to left field to begin the seventh. It was initially called foul, but after a lengthy conversation between all the umpires, it was changed to a fair ball to give Taylor his ninth homer of the year and cut the ThunderBolts lead in half. Graham Brown followed with a double, but was stranded at third with the score still at 2-1.
Thebiay went back out for seventh, but a bloop double led to a Windy City run, making it 3-1.
Adrian Montilva worked the eighth, but was tagged for three runs to give Windy City a 6-1 lead. Evansville didn’t have a baserunner after the G. Brown double and eventually fell to the ThunderBolts on Saturday night.
Evansville’s starters continued to shine, as they’ve now had at least seven strikeouts in four of their five games this week. As a whole pitching staff, they have struck out 11 or more in each of their last three games, with 63 total strikeouts through the five games this week.
The Otters will send out their All-Star and All-Time strikeout leader Braden Scott (5-4, 3.32 ERA) for the rubber match tomorrow afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. CT in Crestwood. After a travel day on Monday, Evansville will travel to Mississippi to take on the Mud Monsters for three games.
