EPD DAILY ACTIVITY REPORT
Otters advance to Championship Series
Sauget, Ill. – The Evansville Otters survived a late comeback effort to defeat the Gateway Grizzlies 9-7 in game three of the Frontier League West Division Series.
With the win, Evansville advances to the Frontier League Championship Series against the Quebec Capitales. Game one is Tuesday night at 7:05 p.m. ET at Stade Canac in Quebec City, Quebec.
The Otters scored in the first inning once again when Kona Quiggle drove in Noah Myers with a double.
The 1-0 lead didn’t last long as Gateway responded with three of their own in the second frame.
The Otters denied the Gateway shutdown inning attempt with an RBI single from Dakota Phillips in the third to bring themselves within one.
Evansville’s offense exploded in the fifth, grabbing four straight RBI hits to take a 9-3 lead. Jeffrey Baez, Ethan Skender, Jomar Reyes, George Callil and Myers all drove in a run during the inning.
Gateway began a comeback attempt in the seventh, striking for a run on a fielder’s choice groundout.
In the eighth, the Grizzlies brought three more runs across, thanks to a solo home run and two-RBI single.
Jake Polancic entered for Evansville in the eighth and shut down the rally, completing his second postseason save of the year in the ninth.
Tim Holdgrafer received the win, allowing three earned runs on nine hits with nine strikeouts.
Gateway emptied the bullpen Sunday night, utilizing six pitchers. Starter Joey Gonzalez went just four innings, allowing four runs on four hits to receive the loss.
Myers, Gary Mattis and Justin Felix all had multi-hit days for Evansville, with Myers and Callil both earning multi-RBI outings.
Evansville now sets sights on the Frontier League Championship Series against East Division regular season champions Quebec on Tuesday night, first pitch scheduled Tuesday night for 7:05 p.m. ET from Quebec City, Quebec.
Quebec will host games one and two on Tuesday and Wednesday before the series heads to Evansville for games three, four and five on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The series is best three-out-of-five. Tickets for the Otters home games go on sale Monday, September 11th at 11:00 am CT.
Michael Ikejiani earns top 15 finish at Ball State
Michael Ikejiani earns top 15 finish at Ball State
Aces take 9th place in team standings
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MUNCIE, Ind. – Posting the low round of the day for the University of Evansville men’s golf team was Michael Ikejiani as he earned a top 15 finish at the Earl Yestingsmeier Invitational.
Sunday’s final round at Delaware Country Club saw Ikejiani record an even 70. His best round of the weekend put him in a tie for the 13th position in the final individual standings with a 220.
Caleb Wassmer was the second finisher for the Purple Aces. His final-round tally of 81 saw him tie for 44th with a 3-round score of 228. Next up was Carson Parker, who placed 63rd. An 84 in round three gave him a score of 237.
Two behind Parker was the duo of Masatoyo Kato and Nicholas Gushrowski. Kato recorded a 78 in the final 18 while Gushrowski notched an 80. Both had final scores of 239. Luke Schneider had his best round of the weekend, carding a 79 to complete the event with a 246.
Evansville took 9th in the team standings with a score of 919. UE finished 11 strokes behind 8th-place finisher Detroit. Ball State made a huge rally on Sunday to take the team championship. Their team score of 277 was the lowest for any squad over the duration of the tournament. The Cardinals finished with an 859, defeating Butler by 16 shots.
BSU took the top two individuals spots. Carter Smith shot a 2-under 68 in the third round to take top honors with a 208. He bested teammate Kash Bellar by three strokes.
The Aces return to the course on Sept. 18 at the Valpo Fall Invitational.
