After a series full of offense against Schaumburg, the Otters’ pitching staff delivered in the first of a three game set against the Crushers.
Evansville sent out Adrian Montilva for his second start of the season and he did not disappoint. He began his outing by sending the opening three batters he saw back to the dugout.
Evansville was able to score in the opening frame for the second night in a row. An Alain Camou single started it off and he was later driven in on a JT Benson single.
Montilva continued his brilliance through three innings, keeping the Crushers scoreless.
In the home half of the third inning, LJ Jones led the offense off with a walk. He made it to second base on another single by Benson. After a fielder’s choice, Jones scored on a wild pitch to put the Otters up 2-0.
Montilva surrendered a solo home run in the fourth and was relieved after the fifth inning, the Otters leading 2-1. He finished his brilliant start with five innings pitched, two hits allowed, one run allowed, three walks and four strikeouts.
The score remained the same until the seventh frame when Lake Erie was able to tie the game on a passed ball.
Evansville responded in the bottom half of the seventh scoring runs on RBI singles from Pavin Parks and Keenan Taylor.
The two-run advantage was cut in half in the top of the eighth. The Otters escaped the inning when a double play with the bases loaded halted the rally.
Evansville called upon Nate Wohlgemuth in the ninth, where he earned his second save of 2025. He struck out two and stranded the tying run to close the door on the game.
The Otters look to clinch their second straight series in tomorrow’s game against the Crushers with a 6:35 p.m. CT start time. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. for Racing Day!
