Parker Brahms got the start and found success through weak contact. Dennis Pierce was tested during the first at-bat and lived up to the challenge, making a diving stop at third and making a rocket throw to first.
After two scoreless frames from Brahms, back-to-back singles put him behind in the third. A defensive mistake scored one and put runners at second and third with no one out. Brahms worked around the trouble, allowing one more run to score, but stranding the bases loaded with Evansville trailing 2-0.
After the shaky third inning, Brahms settled in, working through the sixth keeping the Otters in the game. He entered the seventh, but two baserunners reached with one away and Nick McAuliffe followed to finish the seventh. He struck out both batters he faced to strand two.
The Otters offense was stifled for most of the game but found its footing in the eighth. LJ Jones and Logan Brown led off the inning with singles and Keenan Taylor hit a sacrifice fly to put the first run on the board. Stephen Paolini followed that with a single up the middle to tie the game.
After McAuliffe faced the minimum in the eighth, Evansville came to the plate with a chance to take the lead. A couple of quick outs started the inning out, but back-to-back hits from Jones and L. Brown for the second straight inning put runners at second and third. Taylor followed them with a hit out to right that just snuck past the first baseman to give Evansville their first lead of the game, 4-2.
Garrett Crowley was called on to earn the save and did just that. He struck out all three batters he faced in the ninth to earn his second save for Evansville to secure the 4-2 victory for Evansville.
The Otters travel to Washington to take on the Wild Things for three games starting Tuesday at 6:05 p.m. CT. After the three game set, they return to Evansville for the final six home games at Bosse Field in 2025.
