Sauget, Ill. – The Evansville Otters were an out away from victory in both games of Wednesday’s doubleheader but the Gateway Grizzlies walked off twice at Grizzlies ballpark.

Evansville’s magic number to make the Frontier League playoffs remains at one with four games to play in the regular season.

In game one, the Otters led 6-5 entering the seventh inning but a Clint Freeman two-run home run won the game for Gateway.

After three runs in the first inning for Gateway, Evansville exploded for five runs in the second inning capped by a Kona Quiggle grand slam.

Gateway tied the game with three runs in the second but the Otters scored the go-ahead run in the fourth. Noah Myers led off with a walk and Quiggle followed with a single to move Myers to third. A sacrifice fly scored Myers to make it 6-5 Evansville.

Parker Brahms was brilliant for the Otters out of the bullpen. He twirled 4.1 innings scoreless with five strikeouts retiring the first 12 batters he faced.

Gateway started the seventh with a leadoff walk and hit the walk off two run home run with two outs.

Game two provided its own theatrics with the Grizzlies winning the game on a walk-off single when down to their last strike in the sudden death tiebreaker.

Gateway scratched across a run in the first and one in the fourth before Dakota Phillips blasted a two-run homer over the high wall in left field to tie the game at two in the sixth inning.

The Grizzlies retook the lead 3-2 in the bottom half of the sixth on an RBI double.

Jeffrey Baez helped Evansville keep the game alive in the top of the seventh. Baez notched a pinch-hit single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. He then stole third and the Grizzlies’ catcher threw the ball into left field scoring Baez to tie the game.

Kevin Davis struck out the side in the seventh. Both teams brought runners to third base in the eighth but could not score with Davis striking out two more batters in the eighth for six strikeouts in 2.2 scoreless innings from the bullpen.

Gateway elected to hit in the sudden death tiebreaker in the ninth. A walk and two singles loaded the bases. The Otters were a strike away from victory but Andrew Penner lined one into center just out of the reach of an Otter for the walk-off Gateway win.

Kona Quiggle led Evansville at the plate all evening with four total hits over the two games and two runs.

Dakota Phillips extended his on-base streak to 20 games as part of a two hit night. Noah Myers scored a run in game one for his 83rd run of the season – tying him with Josh Allen in 2017 for the most in a single-season.

The Otters stole five bases over the course of the evening for 160 bags on the season, breaking the franchise single season record from 1997.

Evansville and Gateway play in the series finale on Thursday evening with a 6:45 PM CT first pitch from Grizzlies Ballpark.

EVANSVILLE, Ind.—University of Southern Indiana Men’s and Women’s Cross Country opens the 2023 season Friday when the Screaming Eagles host the Stegemoller Classic at Angel Mounds. 

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Volleyball (1-3) had an impressive showing against the University of Evansville (2-1) but was defeated by the Purple Aces on Tuesday night at Meeks Family Fieldhouse, 3-1 (25-22, 25-19, 25-23, 25-23).
 
The Screaming Eagles made a push but were tamed in the end, 25-22. The scoring started with a couple of miscues from UE and a kill from senior outside hitter Leah Anderson (Bloomington, Illinois) that gave the Eagles their first lead of the match, 4-3. The Purple Aces went on a quick 4-0 stint after a pair of kills and aces that put USI down by three. Trailing 8-6, the Eagles witnessed another 4-0 stint that doubled UE’s lead. USI got back in the scoring column with a kill from sophomore middle hitter Bianca Anderson (Chicago Heights, Illinois) and a shared block by junior setter Carly Sobieralski (Indianapolis, Indiana) and junior middle hitter Paris Downing (Avon, Indiana) to make it 12-8. The Purple Aces retaliated by scoring seven of the next 10 points to extend their advantage, 19-11. Trailing 22-14, the Eagles made a big run to make it interesting. Starting with a kill from junior Abby Weber (Fishers, Indiana) followed by a block and two kills from Leah Anderson, USI was within four. Despite a pair of offensive mistakes from the Eagles, they returned with another 4-0 run that was capped off with another duo of kills from Leah Anderson. UE would nab the final point to claim the victory and take a 1-0 set lead. Both sides were evenly matched on the attack with USI earning 11 kills in comparison to UE’s 13 kills.
 
The Purple Aces put up some big runs to take care of the Eagles in the second set, 25-19. USI quickly went down 9-3 in the frame after UE put up 4-0 and 3-0 surges. The Purple Aces did not stop there as they went on a 5-1 run to make it a 14-5 game. USI recovered with a 4-0 stint with the help of some UE errors and a Downing kill to make it 14-9. The Purple Aces returned the favor with five straight points that put the Eagles down by a set-high 10 points. Leah Anderson and Bianca Anderson knocked down a kill each to stop the stint while Downing added a pair of kills to cut the deficit to 21-15. Weber would nab a kill and a service ace while senior outside/right side hitter Abby Bednar (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) tacked on a kill to make a five-point set before UE sealed the match with a kill. The Purple Aces nabbed 15 kills with just four errors and a 0.244 attacking percentage in the frame while USI had a match-low 10 kills.
 
An early lead and a late stop by USI gave the Eagles a 25-23 win in the third game. Trailing 4-3, USI went on a solid 8-0 run while scoring 10 of the 11 points to make it 11-4. During that span, Downing threw down a pair of kills while Bednar nabbed three kills to highlight the surge. The Purple Aces retaliated with six straight points that made it 13-11. USI kept holding on to the lead throughout UE’s attacks and would sit behind a 19-14 advantage with the help of a kill and block assist from junior middle blocker Lauren O’Neill (Covington, Indiana). Not going down without a fight, the Purple Aces made it a tie game after a 5-0 spurt, putting the Eagles on their heels at 19-19. Three Bednar kills lifted USI past UE and squeezed by a third-set win. USI tallied a match-high 11 kills and a 0.128 hitting percentage while holding the UE attack to just eight kills.
 
USI put up a strong effort at the end of the frame but came up shy of the win, dropping 25-23. Sobieralski started off the game with a quick kill before UE tacked on six of the next seven points to take a 6-2 lead. Back-to-back kills from Bednar and a kill from Bianca Anderson reduced the deficit to just one. The Purple Aces added three straight points then another four straight to make it 14-8. The Eagles took advantage of three offensive errors from UE and put up a 5-1 run. Down 17-13, USI went on a surge by scoring six of the next seven points to regain the lead. However, UE quickly took control and scored three more to recapture a 21-19 advantage. Despite knotting it up at 23, the Eagles could not stop back-to-back kills from the Purple Aces and dropped their third match of the season.
 
Three Eagles posted double-doubles in the loss. Bednar recorded 15 kills with 12 digs while Leah Anderson paired 12 kills with 12 digs. Sobieralski took the reins in the passing game with 39 assists to go along with 16 digs. Sophomore libero/defensive specialist Keira Moore (Newburgh, Indiana) tacked on a team and career-high 17 digs while Downing recorded a career-high seven blocks.
 
As a team, the Eagles had 47 kills, a season-high of 76 digs and 13 blocks to go along with four aces and 42 assists. The Purple Aces put up 52 kills, 83 digs, and 47 assists with nine aces and 15 blocks.
 
NEXT UP FOR THE EAGLES:
The Eagles go back to tournament play this weekend at the Bellarmine Invitational in Louisville, Kentucky. USI will face a trio of opponents including Murray State University (9:00 a.m.) and Bellarmine University (6:30 p.m.) on Friday before challenging the University of New Orleans (11:00 a.m.) on Saturday.