The Otters were able to give starting pitcher Austin Nicely early run support in Thursday’s contest.
In the second inning, Carlos Castro hit a solo home run over the centerfield wall to give the Otters an early 1-0 lead.
In the third, after a David Cronin walk and a single by Keith Grieshaber, Ryan Long smacked a two-run triple to extend the Otters lead to three, picking up his 35th and 36th RBIs of the season.
In the top of the fourth, the Boomers scored their first run of the series when Brock Carpenter scored Nick Oddo on an RBI double to make the score 3-1. It ended a 21.1 scoreless inning streak for the Boomers, as they were shutout by Evansville on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Otters responded in the bottom of the fifth, sending seven men to the plate.
Rob Calabrese led off the inning with a double, followed by back-to-back walks to Jack Meggs and Mike Rizzitello, forcing the bases loaded with no outs.
Hunter Cullen notched a two-run double to give the Otters a 5-1 lead.
A sac fly from J.J. Gould scored Rizzitello, advancing Cullen to third, as the Otters scored their sixth run.
A wild pitch from Boomers reliever Michael McCraith allowed Cullen to touch home, as the Otters scored four runs in the inning, holding a 7-1 lead.
The Boomers would score another run in the top of the sixth on an RBI single from Dylan Jones, but that would be all the Boomers could tally offensively.
Austin Nicely earned his second win of the season, his first at Bosse Field. He had back-to-back quality starts, putting together a six-inning performance, allowing only two runs on two hits and throwing three strikeouts on Thursday night.
After winning his first game two weeks ago at Bosse Field, the Otters were able to rough up Boomers starter Matt Miller, who went three innings, surrendering three runs on three hits. He was handed the loss, his first in three starts.
