Otters Fall Behind Early, Drop Game Four
September 18, 2016 - Frontier League (FL)
Evansville Otters News Release
O'FALLON, MO - After allowing five runs to score in the first inning, the Evansville Otters dropped Game Four, 7-5.
The beginning of the game looked promising for Evansville, as Josh Allen got his first home run of the 2016 postseason with one out in the top of the first inning. That big fly gave the Otters an early 1-0 lead for Matt Wivinis who had been coming off two great outings in the playoffs.
However, River City got off to a faster start and ultimately took too big of a lead for the Otters to overcome. After getting a quick groundout to begin the inning, Wivinis struggled through command issues, giving up a one-out double to Johnny Morales to put a Rascal in scoring position early. Josh Ludy then drew a walk followed by a single from Josh Silver to load the bases. Kyle Gaedele then stepped in, tying the ball game with an RBI walk, allowing Morales to score, followed by Jason Merjano's RBI hit-by-pitch, leading to Ludy scoring. On the very next pitch to Mike Jurgella, a wild pitch allowed Silver to score the third run of the inning. Jurgella then brought in Gaedele with an RBI infield single, and finally Clint Freeman brought in Merjano with a sacrifice fly to center field, making it 5-1 after one inning.
The Evansville Otters attempted to rally in the top of the second inning. Chris Sweeney led off the inning with a single to left field, followed by Christopher Riopedre's double down the left field line. That brought up Julio Rodriguez, as he drove in Chris Sweeney with a sacrifice fly to center field, making it 5-2. The Rascals answered with a run in the bottom of the second on Kyle Gaedele's RBI single, scoring Alexi Colon, making it 6-2 in favor of River City.
Evansville tried to put together another rally in the top of the fourth. Chris Breen and Nik Balog led off the inning with back-to- back singles. After Denzel Richardson flew out to right field, Chris Sweeney came through with an RBI single down the left field line, scoring Breen and making it a 6-3 game.
Once again, River City answered right back in the bottom half of the fourth. Alexi Colon reached base on a throwing error, and that would come back to bite the Otters as Colon would later score on an RBI double by Silver down the third base line. That run made it a 7-3 game, and that would be the final run the Rascals would score on the night. Evansville would score once more in the top of the fifth and eighth innings but would not get any closer, as River City's Zac Treece picked up the save. Treece recorded the final four outs, including a pair of strikeouts in the ninth inning, securing a 7-5, Game Four victory for the Rascals and forcing a winner-take-all Game Five, tomorrow night at Bosse Field.
Matt Wivinis took the loss in today's game, making him 2-1 in the postseason while River City's Austin Warner gets the win, and Treece picks up his second save of the playoffs.
Game Five of the Frontier League Championship Series will take place tomorrow night, September 19, at Bosse Field with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m. Hunter Ackerman gets the ball for Evansville, while River City will send Zeb Sneed to the mound.
Tickets begin at $6 and special pricing on select menu items while supplies last. Enjoy $1 hot dogs, $2 Breaded Chicken and Tenderloin sandwiches, and $3 select 16 oz beers. Come out to the ballpark and support your Otters as they battle to bring the Championship back to Evansville.
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Frontier League Stories from September 18, 2016
- Otters Fall Behind Early, Drop Game Four - Evansville Otters
- Rascals Drop Game Three of Frontier League - River City Rascals
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