Myers hit the go-ahead two-run blast with two outs in the seventh inning for a 5-4 lead. He finished the night with three runs.
Phillips gave the Otters their first lead with a 397-foot blast to right-center field in the third inning for a 3-2 ballgame. He drove in the first three Evansville runs of the game.
Braden Scott provided key work from the mound pitching 6.1 innings in his start. He allowed just one hit and retired 12 straight batters from the third inning into the seventh.
Florence took a 1-0 lead in the first on four walks. Ethan Skender tripled in the bottom of the first and scored on a Phillips’ groundout to tie the game at one.
The Y’alls hit a homer in the third to take a brief lead before the Phillips blast in the bottom of the frame.
The seventh inning was full of drama. Florence used a two-RBI single to take the lead. After Myers hit his go-ahead homer in the bottom of the frame, Bryan Rosario followed with an RBI base hit for a three-run seventh.
Evansville added two more runs in the eighth. George Callil reached on an error and made a dash on a wild pitch from second to home for another run. Myers then walked for the second time, stole his second base of the game and scored his third run of the evening on a Skender RBI hit to cap the scoring.
Kevin Davis earned his third win of the season, tossing 1.2 scoreless innings with three strikeouts.
Skender and Rosario both finished with two hits. Skender’s triple is the 27th of the season for the Otters, tying a single-season franchise record. Myers has now scored 82 runs on the season – one away from tying the most in a single Evansville season.
Phillips’ three RBIs pushed him to 186 career RBIs, moving him past Josh Allen for the second most career RBIs in franchise history.
With their win and a Joliet loss, Evansville’s magic number to make the 2023 Frontier League playoffs is down to three with nine games left to play on the season.
Evansville faces Florence in the series middle game on Saturday evening as part of EVSC Foundation Teacher Appreciation Night. First pitch is slated for 6:35 PM CT as the final evening regular season game of the year at Bosse Field.
