EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Evansville Otters took home a thrilling win on Saturday night at Bosse Field, coming from behind to beat the Windy City ThunderBolts 10-9.
The Otters (15-23) rallied for six runs in the seventh inning to take the lead and eventually even the series against the ThunderBolts (16-23) on superhero night.
Scoring began in the first frame when the Otters bats put together three runs. Randy Bednar opened with an RBI single, followed up with a sacrifice bunt from Logan Brown to score another run. Pavin Parks later touched home off a double from David Mendham to make it a 3-0 game.
Windy City tallied one run in the second inning but Evansville earned it back in the fourth frame. After Jake Green walked with one out, he was moved to second on a wild pitch and touched the plate when Blake Mozley singled him in.
It was a 4-1 game into the fifth when the Thunderbolts struck for a quartet of runs to take a 5-4 lead. They added another three in the seventh, and all hope seemed to be gone as the opposition went up 8-4.
After stretch time, the Otters were resurrected back to life. The first six men who came to the plate garnered base hits, sparked by Green who led off with a single. Giovanni DiGiacomo registered an RBI double and Mason White notched a two-RBI single. The tying run came in on a Brown fielder’s choice RBI and the Otters took the lead when Medham grounded out to second, also scoring a run.
With a two-run advantage in the ninth inning, the plot thickened with Windy City finding runners on all three bases. A ThunderBolt was hit by a pitch to plate one and make it 10-9. With the tying run 90 feet from scoring, Pavin Parks (Sv. 1) was called upon out of the bullpen, and he struck out Kingston Liniak on three pitches to end the contest.
Grif Hughes (1-0) was magnificent out of the bullpen. He recorded six outs while facing five batters in the seventh and eighth innings. He took the win after coming in with the bases jammed and in a difficult spot he limited the damage and did not allow a run of his own. He set Windy City down in order during his final inning.
Jack Mahoney (5-2) took the loss after giving up the lead in the seventh.
Staying hot at the plate, DiGiacomo has hit safety in his first four games. With another pair of doubles tonight, he was able to tab his fifth RBI of the year for Evansville. Bednar, Parks, Green and Mozley each had multi-hit efforts, as the team racked up a baker’s dozen worth of hits.
Forcing a rubber match, both clubs will be back at it tomorrow in the series finale. Evansville looks for their first series win in this nine-game home stand with a 5:05 p.m. first pitch tomorrow against Windy City. Coverage is available on the Otters Digital Network and FloBaseball.
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