 The Evansville Otters finished a series sweep of the Gateway Grizzlies by winning a pair of games on a Saturday doubleheader at Bosse Field. Evansville won the first game by a score of 6-4 and the second 4-3.
Nik Balog helped the Otters take a commanding 3-0 lead in the first inning of the initial contest following a massive homerun to right, with two men on base. A strange, yet critical, play would unfold in the fourth inning when two Grizzly runners found themselves racing toward home at almost the exact same time after a double was hit off the right field fence. The lead runner would be gunned down at the plate, and the trailing runner was tagged out in a rundown, which preserved a 3-0 lead at the time. Gateway would throw on two runs in the fifth behind a two-run homerun to right-center. After the Otters tacked on two runs in the fifth, the Grizzlies would pull within a run after an additional two-run homerun in the sixth. Evansville would go on to preserve the lead and seal a victory.
The scoring of the second opened in the third inning, when an Otter infielder slipped which allowed a ground ball to squirt into left field and plate a run for Gateway. The Grizzlies would add on another run in the same inning via a sacrifice fly. Evansville starting pitcher, Preston Olson, would flirt with a no-hitter throughout the game. Ultimately, not surrendering a hit until there were two outs recorded in the sixth. However, recently acquired Evansville outfielder, Denzel Richardson, would absolutely annihilate a 3-run homerun to dead center that gave the Otters a monumental 3-2 lead. Evansville would add on a run in the sixth thanks to an RBI single from Chris Sweeney. The Grizzlies were able to score a run and even put the potential go-ahead runs on second and third base. However, the Otters would finish strong and clinch their third straight victory in the decisive last frame. Evansville will now begin the all-star break, and will not resume play again until a road trip starts on July 15th.
