The Evansville Otters fell short of extending their winning streak to eight games Tuesday, as the Windy City ThunderBolts edged out a 3-2 win over the Otters in their series opener on the south side of Chicago.
The Otters broke out to an early lead, scoring in the top of the first on an RBI fielder’s choice by Riley Krane and a base hit from Elijah MacNamee that led to a fielding error, scoring Krane from first.
Tim Holdgrafer would put up a critical zero in the bottom of the first by working around a two-out walk and striking out the side, such that after one Evansville led 2-0.
The ThunderBolts would tally their first run in the bottom of the third, when Brynn Martinez singled home John Sechen, who had reached on a hit-by-pitch, with two out in the bottom of the third.
Windy City would then tie the game in the next inning, when Zach Racusin collected an RBI double that scored Jairus Richards from second with no one out. Holdgrafer would end up stranding Racusin at third with less than two out in the inning to keep the game tied for the fifth.
The T-Bolts would scratch across another run for the third consecutive inning in the bottom of the fifth, when Peyton Robinson scored from second on a bunt single by Martinez that was thrown wide of the first base bag on an errant throw by Holdgrafer. Holdgrafer quickly rolled a double play ball to clean up the inning and limit the damage to one. After five innings of play, the ThunderBolts led 3-2, which would hold for the final score.
Otters starter Tim Holdgrafer took the loss, while Bryan Ketchie earned the win in his ThunderBolts debut. Stetson Woods earned the save after pitching a 1-2-3 ninth.
The Otters will look to even the series Wednesday when they send Braden Scott (4-2, 2.85 ERA) to the mound. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m., and fans can listen to an audio broadcast of the game on the Otters’ YouTube channel with a 6:50 p.m. pregame show.
