EVANSVILLE, Ind – The Evansville Otters (39-55) dropped the opener against the Gateway Grizzlies (55-39) on Friday night, 8-3.
The Otters sent out Parker Brahms, but an early run came home in the first. He got a ground ball and LJ Jones fielded it, tagged first and threw out the runner at home to avoid any further damage.
The offense struggled early and stranded runners at second and third in the third.
After a scoreless frame from Brahms, four runs scored in the bottom of the third to give Gateway a 5-0 lead.
Evansville got lead off hits from Keenan Taylor and LJ Jones before Cohen Wilbanks singled to get the first run of the board. The Otters had runners at second and third but stranded them for the second straight inning.
Brahms worked a scoreless fourth, but allowed a couple two-out runs giving the Grizzlies a 7-1 lead. Jackson Malouf entered and finished the fifth with a strikeout. He also worked a scoreless sixth.
Jones led the eighth off with a double down the third base line and Taylor followed with an opposite field home run to complete his 4-for-4 night.
After Malouf left with the bases loaded, Nolan Thebiay escaped the eighth allowing just one of the inherited runs to score. Evansville couldn’t push across a run in the ninth and fell 8-3.
Along with Taylor’s four hit night, Jones and Graham Brown also had multiple hits in the contest.
Evansville returns to Gateway for the penultimate game of the 2025 season. The game is set for 6:30 p.m. CT tomorrow night.
