AUGUSTA, NJ. – The Evansville Otters stole the series away from the Sussex County Miners Sunday with two wins in a doubleheader at Skylands Stadium.
After dropping the series opener Saturday, the Otters (13-20) battled back to win both seven-inning games against the Miners (11-21).
Game 1 – Evansville 3, Sussex 1
The opener featured a pitchers duel from both starters. Parker Brahms (2-4) picked up the win after tossing five and two-third innings of one run ball.
Evansville jumped on the board first with a leadoff single from Dvaid Mendham, followed by an Anthony Calarco fielder’s choice RBI.
Randy Bednar homered to left field in the third inning, giving the Otters a 2-0 lead.
The only run of the game for Sussex came in the fourth frame, but Brahms buckled down and stranded another two runners on the bases to limit the damage.
Against the Miners bullpen, the final run of the game was a sacrifice fly from Blake Mozley, scoring Calarco who led off with a base hit.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Michael McAvene (Sv. 2) came on and relieved Brahms by stranding a pair of inherited base runners. He registered the save after striking out two in the ninth during a one-two-three inning.
Bednar and Mendham each picked up two hits, and the Otters marched on to the nightcap.
Game 2 – Evansville 5, Sussex 2
Moving into the backend of the twin bill, Sussex scored first with their only two runs in the second inning.
The bullpen shined for Evansville, not giving up a run. Ryan Wiltse entered during the third inning and worked out of a bases loaded jam. Leoni De La Cruz and Jon Beymer had bounce back performances, and McAvene picked up his second save of the day in the final frame.
Beymer (2-0) was given the win after going six-up-six-down in the sixth and seventh frames.
In a 2-0 hole, Randy Bednar smacked his second home run of the day to left-center field in the fourth inning.
Later in the fifth, Mike Peabody singled with two outs, was moved to third and then scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at two.
Neither team could score again in the final two innings, and the game went to extras.
Evansville opened up the offense, scoring for three runs. With two outs and the bases loaded, Jomar Reyes singled to right-center and brought home two go-ahead runs for the Otters. Calarco followed up with another single to plate the final run of the game.
The life was sucked out of Skylands Stadium and Sussex went down one-two-three, with McAvene (Sv. 3) on the mound to close out the game again.
Calarco and Mike Peabody had multi-hit games and Reyes led the offense with two RBI. Bednar scored twice in the final contest.
Winners in their last three series, the Otters concluded their six-game road affair with four wins. They will now make the lengthy trek back to Evansville. After an off day on Monday, they will open a nine-game home stand on Tuesday against the Schaumburg Boomers. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. CT. Coverage is available on the Otters Digital Network and FloBaseball.
