Grizzlies Snap Losing Skid, Even Series with Otters
Published on June 17, 2023 under Frontier League (FL)
Gateway Grizzlies News Release
Evansville, IN - The Gateway Grizzlies grabbed an early lead on Saturday night at Bosse Field, lost it, but then regained the advantage in the sixth inning, holding on from there for a 4-3 victory over the Evansville Otters to bring their five-game losing skid to an end.
Things started swimmingly for Gateway against Otters starter Justin Watland (4-2), as Gabe Holt hit his first home run as a Grizzlie to right field for a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, and Peter Zimmermann followed two batters later by crushing his team-leading tenth homer of the year to center field for a 2-0 advantage. After Jairus Richards walked and stole second base, D.J. Stewart came up with a big two-out RBI single to make it 3-0 right away.
The Otters got two runs back in the bottom half of the first against Carson LaRue (3-0), but the right-hander held the line there with a strikeout to strand the tying run in scoring position, one of eight that LaRue would record in five innings in the contest. The Otters in fact got the tying run in scoring position in each of the first four innings, but could not knot the score until the fifth, when Jeffrey Baez's sacrifice fly made the score 3-3.
Undaunted, Holt led off the next half-inning with a single, and Zimmermann singled him to third base before Richards reached on an RBI fielder's choice, making the score 4-3 Gateway.
That would remain the score for the rest of the game thanks to yeomen's work by the Grizzlies' bullpen, as Alec Whaley came in following a leadoff hit against LaRue to pitch a scoreless sixth, Trevor Tietz tossed a scoreless seventh, and Brian Eichhorn took care of the eighth inning to set up Colton Easterwood, who nailed down his fifth save with a perfect ninth inning, the only 1-2-3 inning of the night by the pitching staff, to secure the win.
The Grizzlies will now go for the series win at Bosse Field in the rubber game on Sunday, June 18, at 5:05 p.m. CT. Collin Sullivan will pitch for the Grizzlies against Evansville's Parker Brahms before the Grizzlies move on to Florence to continue their road trip.
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