Grizzlies Break out Bats, Take Series in Evansville
August 25, 2024 - Frontier League (FL)
Gateway Grizzlies News Release
Evansville, Ind. - The Gateway Grizzlies had 13 hits offensively, their most in a game since before the all-star break, and had men on base in every inning on Sunday afternoon, using the persistent offensive attack to record a 7-3 win over the Evansville Otters at Bosse Field and take the series two games to one after dropping the opener on Friday night.
Things got started early for the Grizzlies in the first against Zach Smith (7-7), as Gabe Holt reached on a leadoff error by Amani Larry at second base, and went to third on a double by Victor Castillo. Holt came home on a sacrifice fly by Peter Zimmermann, making it a 1-0 Grizzlies lead.
The Otters would respond in the same way in the bottom of the inning, tying the game at 1-1 on a sacrifice fly by Delvin Zinn against Collin Sullivan (9-5). The Grizzlies' starter would permit just the one run in five innings of work, striking out six and working out of jams with men on base to eventually earn his team-leading ninth win of the season.
He would get that win when the Grizzlies rallied in the middle innings. Cole Brannen hit a solo homer with two outs in the fourth to put Gateway up 2-1, and they would bat around in the fifth inning to score four times, knocking Smith out of the game. Zimmermann and Brannen would contribute RBI singles to the big inning, with D.J. Stewart rapping an RBI double to right field and Kyle Gaedele drawing a bases loaded walk, with the nine-batter inning putting the Grizzlies up 6-1.
Gateway would score their final run on another RBI hit by Stewart in the top of the sixth, who finished 2-for-5 in the contest. Each of the top four batters in the Grizzlies' lineup would have multiple hits in the contest, led by Zimmermann's 3-for-5 day with two RBIs. Castillo and Holt also had two hits apiece and three total runs scored.
Evansville attempted to come back, scoring single runs in the seventh and the ninth off Keegan Collett and Gage Vailes, respectively, but it was not enough as the Grizzlies finished 8-4 on the season against the Otters, and won their 14th series in their last 15 since the end of June. With Washington's win over Lake Erie clinching the West Division title for the Wild Things, Gateway is officially locked in to the #2 seed in the playoffs, and will host the winner-take-all Wild Card game at Grizzlies Ballpark on Tuesday, September 3.
Coincidentally, the Grizzlies will next move on to Avon, Ohio, kicking off a three-game series against the Crushers on Tuesday, August 27, at 5:35 p.m. CT. Lukas Veinbergs will start the series opener for Gateway against Lake Erie southpaw and Kirkwood, Missouri native Jack Eisenbarger at Crushers Stadium.
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