It's Cerda Time; Closer Grabs Two Saves as Otters Sweep DH
FL Evansville Otters

It's Cerda Time; Closer Grabs Two Saves as Otters Sweep DH

Published on July 5, 2026 under Frontier League (FL)
Evansville Otters News Release


EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The Evansville Otters (31-18) took advantage of great pitching to sweep the doubleheader against the Joliet Slammers (21-28) on Sunday, winning game one 2-1 and game two 2-0.

It was Ryan Wiltse who started game one for the Otters against Eric Turner for Joliet.

Logan Brown doubled in Jon Ponder to open the scoring in the first inning. That was the only scoring from both teams in the first five innings.

It was a pitcher's duel between Wiltse and Turner. Wiltse finished with five scoreless innings, only giving up two hits while Turner had six innings with one earned run.

Ian Battipaglia led off the bottom of the sixth with a solo home run to tie the game at 1-1. The Otters took the lead right back in the top of the seventh with a solo home run from LG Castillo.

Junior Cerda threw a scoreless bottom of the seventh to get his 10th save of the season as the Otters won 2-1.

Gunnar Kines got the start for the Slammers in game two against Anthony Tomczak for Evansville.

Neither team scored for the first six innings, as the pitching was immaculate in game two. Kines finished with six scoreless innings and the Otters' combination of Tomczak, Dylan Zentko, Nolan Thebiay and Cerda threw a one-hit shutout.

Castillo came up with the big hit yet again in the seventh, singling in Dennis Pierce. Blake Robertson added insurance with a double to make it 2-0. Cerda took the seventh again and got his second save of the day to secure the series win.

The Otters are now 31-18 and 4-1 to start July. For the second straight series, they lost game one but came back to win the next two games to take the series.

Evansville has an off-day tomorrow before three more games on the road against the Gateway Grizzlies, game one starting on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. CT at Arsenal BG Ballpark.

All games can be heard on 96.9 WYIR and the Otters Digital Network and can be viewed live on the Frontier League Network on HTN.

The Evansville Otters are the 2006 and 2016 Frontier League champions.

The Otters play all home games at EVSC's Historic Bosse Field, located at 23 Don Mattingly Way in Evansville, Ind. Stay up to date with the Evansville Otters by visiting evansvilleotters.com, or follow the Otters on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

For more information, visit evansvilleotters.com or call (812) 435-8686.

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Frontier League Stories from July 5, 2026


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