EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The pitching trio of Justin Watland, Jake Polancic and Logan Sawyer helped keep the Joliet Slammers at bay Tuesday night as the Evansville Otters won 5-1.
For the third straight game, the Otters scored a first-inning run, this time on an RBI single from Zach Biermann.
In the third, Evansville added to their lead, capitalizing on a Joliet error to score Jeffrey Baez on a double from J.R. Davis.
The Slammers found the run column in the fourth, grabbing three straight singles off Watland, the final one bringing in a run.
The 2-1 lead was expanded quickly in the sixth as the Otters used another error to get Miles Gordon on base. The error from the pitcher not only gave Gordon first but second and third as well. Directly after, Brody Tanksley brought Gordon in, advancing the lead to 3-1.
In the seventh, Evansville lowered their foot yet again, using another Joliet error to their favor. A leadoff error allowed Rosario to reach to begin the seventh. After a Biermann single, Davis brought both in with a two-run double.
In the eighth, Jake Polancic came in to help close the door. Despite allowing a two-out double, he made it through the eighth unscathed.
Polancic began the ninth, but after allowing two men on with one out, Sawyer was called upon out of the pen. Sawyer ended things quickly after giving up a hit, striking out the final two batters for the Slammers.
The win went to Justin Watland, who gave up just one (unearned) run on five hits in seven full innings. The loss fell to Cole Cook after he allowed three runs on eight hits in six innings.
The win (plus Schaumburg’s loss against Washington) puts Evansville back in second place in the West Division with 11 games to play in the regular season.
The series with Joliet continues on Wednesday night with a 6:35 p.m. first pitch from Bosse Field.
