Three former Evansville Otters players appeared on Major League Baseball spring training rosters this season as left-handed pitcher Chris Nunn along with right-handed pitchers Ryan Atkinson and Max Duval had the opportunity to suit up for MLB teams.

All three played for the Otters within the last two seasons.

Since Andy McCauley became Evansville’s manager midway through the 2010 season, over 20 players have signed contracts with affiliated organizations.

Nunn appeared in two games for the Houston Astros this spring, pitching 1 2/3 innings and finishing with a 0.00 ERA. He pitched the seventh inning of the Astros’ 8-2 win over the New York Mets Feb. 27.

The Astros took him in the Triple-A phase of MLB’s Rule 5 draft in December after the Chicago Cubs signed him in August from Evansville after making one start for the Otters.

Nunn had a 1.80 ERA with Evansville and he was immediately assigned to the Cubs’ Double-A affiliate.

In his start at Bosse Field Aug. 9, Nunn struck out nine Florence batters as he allowed one earned run off three hits in five innings. After the first two batters he faced reached base, Nunn regrouped to strike out the next seven. Through three innings, he had eight strikeouts.

Nunn was drafted in the 24th round of the 2012 MLB Amateur Draft by the San Diego Padres. He spent four years in the Padres organization and also spent time with the Milwaukee Brewers organization in 2017 prior to arriving in Evansville.

Duval also made a roster after being activated by the Miami Marlins in March, however, he didn’t make an appearance.

The Marlins signed Duval July 28 after he went 12-3 with 155 strikeouts in two seasons with Evansville. Last season, he was 8-2 in earning the Frontier League’s Brian Tollberg Award for being the most valuable pitcher with a 2.28 ERA in 14 starts.

Duval was named the Frontier League Pitcher of the Week June 26 after he made two starts on the mound the week before and went seven innings in both games.

Atkinson appeared in four games with the Arizona Diamondbacks this spring and started one.

In his March 17 start against San Diego, Atkinson went three innings and didn’t allow a run. He struck out four batters and walked three, throwing 47 pitches. He finished the spring with a 12.79 ERA in 6 1/3 innings.

He was signed by the Otters June 22, 2016 and spent eight days in Evansville before being signed by the Diamondbacks. He pitched 5 2/3 innings in two games and finished with a 0.00 ERA.

The most recent MLB organization signee was right-handed pitcher Ryan Etsell, who was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies organization in December.

Two former players have appeared in a regular season MLB game with George Sherrill (1999-00) making 442 career MLB appearances from 2004-12 and Andrew Werner (2009-10) starting eight games for the Padres in 2012.

Evansville will celebrate Bosse Field’s Opening Night May 11 against the Washington Wild Things at 6:35 p.m.

The Evansville Otters are

Aces and Ramblers tangle Friday and Saturday

Easter weekend will see the University of Evansville softball team head to Chicago for a 3-game series against Loyola.  UE opens up the series on Friday with a noon doubleheader before playing a single game on Saturday at 11 a.m.

For the first time in five years, the Purple Aces took the regular season series against UNI, sweeping the Panthers in a doubleheader on Sunday.  Entering the series, the Aces dropped 9 of the last 11 meetings.  Freshman Eryn Gould went 6-of-7 from the plate while scoring five runs in the doubleheader while Morgan Florey picked up the win in each game.  UE took both games by a 6-2 final.

UE freshman Eryn Gould was named the MVC Player and Newcomer of the Week on Monday following her performance against UNI.  Gould entered the weekend series against UNI batting .400 on the season before an unbelievable 2-game performance saw her notch six hits in seven at-bats to raise that average to .442, third in the league.  She batted an unreal .857 in the series, going 6-7 with five runs scored, two doubles, a home run, walk and an RBI.  Through the first five conference outings in 2018, Gould has 11 hits in 16 at-bats and is batting .688 while getting on base 72.2% of the time.

Morgan Florey earned the victory in both wins over UNI last weekend.  She started game one, going the distance while allowing two runs, one earned; in game two, she tossed four innings of scoreless relief.  Florey is 5th in the NCAA with 10.7 strikeouts per seven innings while ranking seventh in total strikeouts with 155.

Since March 9, freshman Lindsay Renneisen has seen her average rise from .204 to .260.  Over her last nine games, Renneisen has gone 10-26 from the plate; she notched a total of 10 hits in her first 17 college games.

Going into the series against the Panthers, senior Brittany Hay was mired in a 3-for-25 slump, but got an important boost against UNI.  In the two contests, Hay was 2-7 from the plate, but her hit in game two ended up as the biggest hit of the weekend.  With the game knotted at 2-2 in the bottom of the fifth inning, Hay launched her team-leading fifth homer of the season to help the Aces earn a 6-2 victory.  She continues to lead the team with her five home runs and 19 RBI.

Also making an impact over the weekend were Bailee Porter and McKenzie Johnson, who each posted two hits in six at-bats, finishing at .333.

Loyola stands at 15-12 overall and are tied with the Aces in the league, sitting with a 2-3 mark.  Shannon McGee leads the offense with a .448 average and a team-high 18 RBIs.  Kiley Jones has earned 12 wins in the circle and has a 1.97 ERA.

Evansville has won five of the last six games against Loyola, including a series sweep last season.  Morgan Florey has notched a 3-1 mark vs. Loyola with a 1.25 ERA in 28 innings of work; she has fanned 38 batters in that time.