The Evansville Otters and the Normal Cornbelters split a doubleheader at Bosse Field, with the Otters winning game one 4-0 and the Cornbelters taking game two 9-8 in eleven innings before 2,032.
The Otters took game one of the twin bill against the Cornbelters by a final score of 4-0.
Evansville jumped on the board early when Jeff Gardner hit a two-out two-run home run to center, his first of the season, giving the Otters a 2-0 lead.
That lead was doubled in the fifth after Ryan Long’s first home run of the year, a two-run shot over the wall in left field, that gave the Otters a four-run lead.
Patrick McGuff was outstanding for the Otters, throwing a complete game shutout and earning his second victory of the season. McGuff struck out eight hitters, walking just one and allowed only six hits. McGuff has not allowed a run on the season in 13 innings of work.
Taking the loss is Matt Portland for the Cornbelters. Portland threw a complete game himself, striking out nine, allowing the four runs on six hits. The only damage Portland allowed came on the two home runs as he was dealt his first loss of the season.
Normal withstood multiple comebacks in game two.
The Cornbelters got started quickly with two, two-run home runs in the first from Chris Iriart and Tanner Lubach.
Evansville got on the scoreboard in the third on an RBI from Zach Welz. But the Otters would leave the bases loaded in the frame after Travis Harrison grounded out to end the threat.
The next inning the Otters continued to chip away as after Mike Rizzitello tripled and Hunter Cullen drove him home with a ground out to short.
The lead was trimmed to one when Toby Thomas scored on a wild pitch from Cornbelters starter Billy Roth.
Normal extended their lead back to two on a Derek Loveless RBI triple in the sixth.
With a man on in the seventh, Thomas crushed a two-run homer to left to tie the game and send it to extra innings.
After a scoreless eighth inning, the teams exchanged runs in the ninth and tenth before Normal broke through with two in the eleventh. Evansville responded with one run in the bottom half of the inning, but left the tying run on second base as Caleb Eldridge struck out to end the game.
The two squads will finish up their three-game set on Sunday at 2:05 p.m. at Bosse Field.
Sunday is a Family Fun-Day Sunday at the ballpark. For $40, families will receive 4 G.A. tickets, 4 popcorn, soda, and snow cone vouchers, and 2 inflatables passes.
Austin Nicely will make his second start of the season for the Otters after picking up his first win of the season back on Tuesday in Joliet.
For Normal, Kevin Matthews will be handed the ball and will be making his second start of the season. For the season, he is 0-1 with a 3.00 ERA.
Broadcast coverage will be available on WUEV 91.5 FM for Sunday’s with Sam Jellinek (play-by-play) and Bill McKeon (analyst) on the call.
Fans can also follow Otters social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for game updates throughout the day.
The Evansville Otters are the 2006 and 2016 Frontier League champions. Season tickets, group outing packages, and single game tickets are on sale now for the 2018 season.
