Evansville Otters' Ninth Inning Comeback Falls Short 4-2
Published on July 14, 2012 under Frontier League (FL)
Evansville Otters News Release
(EVANSVILLE, INDIANA) - b0 Evansville loaded up the bases in the bottom of the ninth, rallied for two runs but came up just short in a 4-2 Rockford win on Saturday night.
dsa200sl276slmult1 It was the 500th franchise victory for the RiverHawks, who just held on for the win.
Down 4-0 in the ninth, Evansville staged another late rally with a single, hit by pitch and walk to begin their last at-bats. With the game becoming a save situation, Rockford turned to closer Garrett Granitz. Catcher Brett Chamberlain greeted the sidewinder with an RBI fielder's choice and shortstop Greg Fontenot followed with a run-producing single to right field a few batters later. After cutting the deficit in half, Evansville's designated hitter Luis Parache hit a ground ball up the middle that nearly sneaked through for a game-tying single. Instead, second baseman Jet Butler fielded the ball, flipped to the shortstop Ted Obregon covering the base to end the game.
Evansville trailed early, though, as right-hander Wynn Pelzer made the first start of his Otters career. Pelzer (0-1) threw 3.0 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on two hits and five walks.
Pelzer gave up two runs in the top of the third inning and reliever Nick Montgomery yielded the other pair of Rockford runs in the sixth.
With the win, the Rockford RiverHawks improve to 20-29 as the Evansville Otters drop to 22-28.
The teams will meet again on Sunday night in the series finale at Historic Bosse Field. It is Kenny Kent Chrevolet Night at the Ballpark with first pitch slated for 6:35 p.m. CDT. Left-hander Matt Zielinski (4-4, 4.31 Earned Run Average) will start for Evansville as he will be opposed by righty Drew Rucinski (4-1, 2.62 ERA).
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