Starting pitching was excellent for both sides but Braden Scott was great in another quality performance. The southpaw tossed six scoreless frames en route to striking out 10 Crushers.
Scoring did not begin until the sixth inning. David Mendham walked with one out and two batters later Anthony Calarco kept the frame alive with a base hit. With runners on first and second, Randy Bednar hit an RBI double to the right-center gap, scoring a run and putting Evansville ahead 1-0.
Lake Erie tied the game in the eighth inning with a home run, but the Otters quickly responded in the bottom of the frame.
They strung together a two-out rally beginning with Calarco being hit by a pitch. After a Bednar single, Mike Peabody delivered by smoking a ball off the left-center field wall to plate both runners. While he was inches away from his third home run of the year, he gave the Otters a 3-1 advantage, finalizing the scoring.
Michael McAvene (Sv. 1) slammed the door in the ninth to pick up the first save of the year for any Otters pitcher.
Calarco led the bats with a 3-for-3 night. Riley Delgado also had a multi-hit game. Mendham extended his on-base streak to 21 games, reaching safely in every game he’s been a part of this year.
