EVANSVILLE, Ind. – For the second time this year, the Evansville Otters walked off to beat the Lake Erie Crushers 5-4 at Bosse Field on Saturday Night.
It was a back-and-forth battle throughout the contest. The Otters (26-40) fell behind early but struck back to take a lead late in the game. The Crushers (38-27) tied it to make the night interesting but resilience from the offense led Evansville to the series win.
Dakota Phillips was the hero as he led the offense in a three-for-four night at the dish. He smacked a ball to the gap in left-center that hit off the top of the wall to bring home the winning run in the ninth inning.
Lake Erie jumped ahead in the fifth inning with an unearned run to make it 1-0. In the sixth, the Crushers added two more unearned runs before the Otters found the scoreboard in the home half of the frame.
Pavin Parks doubled to right-center and Dakota Phillips brought him home to make it a 3-1 game.
In the seventh, the Otters took the lead dropping three runs on the Crushers to jump ahead 4-3. Randy Bednar highlighted the inning with a two-out two-run single up the middle.
Tying the game with a home run in the eighth, Lake Erie sent the contest to the ninth tied at four. Gary Mattis singled on the first pitch of the final frame. Then, Parks roped a ball to right field down in the count 0-2 to put runners on first and second. Two batters later, Phillips sent the Otters home with a win and a chance to sweep Lake Erie tomorrow.
Casey Delgado tossed four scoreless innings as the starter. Taking the win after pitching a scoreless ninth was Michael McAvene (1-4). Blowing the hold and allowing the walk-off, Trevor Kuncl (2-3) took the loss.
The Otters have an opportunity to win three games in a row for the first time all season tomorrow against Lake Erie in the series finale. Looking to start the homestand a perfect 3-0, the first pitch is set for 5:05 p.m. CT. Coverage is available on the Otters Digital Network and FloBaseball.
