EVANSVILLE, Ind. – It took 10 plus innings to decide a winner Wednesday night, as the Evansville Otters won their first Frontier League sudden death game over the Joliet Slammers, 2-2.
Starters Ryan O’Reilly and Cam Aufderheide impressed in the contest, each starting the game with four scoreless innings.
Finally, the Slammers broke the ice in the fifth, using an earlier error to their advantage. After getting a couple men on, Matt McGarry delivered with a two-out, two-run single to left center to put Joliet up 2-0.
The Otters answered in the bottom half, using a leadoff Elijah MacNamee double to kickstart the offense. After a stolen base, a wild pitch from Aufderheide allowed MacNamee to grab home as well, bringing the Otters to within one.
Evansville evened the game in the sixth when the Otters’ RBI leader J.R. Davis brought in George Callil with an RBI single, good for his 50th RBI of 2022.
The 2-2 score held through the full nine innings and through the tenth as well. Each side attempted to bunt the ghost runner over in the tenth inning but a bunt pop-out ended both attempts.
In the eleventh, the Otters elected to field and bring out Logan Sawyer once again. Despite advancing the runner to their, Sawyer held the Slammers scoreless, delivering Evansville a win in their first Frontier League sudden death game.
With the win, Evansville has won three straight series and maintains second position in the West Division.
The series concludes on College Night on Thursday night with a 6:35 p.m. first pitch from Bosse Field. All college students get in free with student ID.
