Mud Monsters See Eight-Run Lead Vanish as Otters Take Sudden-Death Game
FL Mississippi Mud Monsters

Mud Monsters See Eight-Run Lead Vanish as Otters Take Sudden-Death Game

Published on June 5, 2026 under Frontier League (FL)
Mississippi Mud Monsters News Release


EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The Mississippi Mud Monsters (10-14) saw a 10-2 lead disappear Thursday night as the Evansville Otters (15-8) rallied to force extra innings before claiming a 13-13 sudden-death victory.

In what became the longest game in Mud Monsters history at four hours and nine minutes, the matchup against the Otters featured two ejections, 26 combined runs, 28 hits and 17 walks.

Starting at the beginning, Brian Williams headed to the hill looking for his first win of the year. The right-hander out of Texas got early run support as the Mud Monsters brought home first-inning runs for the second straight game.

A leadoff single by Brayland Skinner was followed by a Kasten Furr double to put runners in scoring position for Kyle Booker.

Booker brought home Skinner on an RBI groundout to make it 1-0. Travis Holt followed with a run-scoring single, and Slater Schield singled on a play that saw Holt attempt to go first-to-third but get thrown out.

Schield swiped second and came in to score on a base hit from Andrew Semo in his first game back off the injured list to give the Mud Monsters a 3-0 lead heading into the bottom of the first.

Williams struck out the first two men he faced in what became a scoreless opening frame.

After the top of the second saw Mississippi go down quietly, Evansville brought home its first run in the bottom half of the inning.

Mississippi blew the game open with a six-run third inning.

Back-to-back free passes issued to Holt and Schield put two on for Tevis Payne II, who bunted for a single before Evansville third baseman Marcos Gonzalez sailed his throw to first to bring home Holt while moving Schield to third and Payne II to second.

With it 4-1, Semo walked to load the bases and AJ Fritz blooped an RBI single to increase the lead to 5-1.

Vantrel Reed grounded into a fielder's choice that saw the first out of the frame recorded at second, but Reed arrived safely at first while bringing home Payne II to make it 6-1.

With one away, Brayland Skinner lifted a sacrifice fly to center field that scored Semo.

Now 7-1 with two outs, Evansville starter Ben Petschke allowed a single to Kasten Furr and manager Andy McCauley turned to Andrew Garcia out of the bullpen.

The move did not pay off for Evansville as Booker delivered a two-run single to stretch Mississippi's lead to 9-1.

The score held until the bottom of the fourth when Evansville plated another run to make it 9-2.

Booker picked up RBI number four on the day in the fifth after Skinner walked and stole his second base of the game to move into scoring position. Booker lined a base hit up the middle to build Mississippi's advantage to 10-2.

Evansville broke through against Williams during the third trip through the order.

Two singles opened the bottom of the fifth before a Dennis Pierce sacrifice fly brought home the third Otters run.

Now a 10-3 ballgame, Blake Robertson singled to bring home another run and cut deeper into Mississippi's lead.

Williams picked up the second out on a flyout, but with two outs, two on and Sam Linscott batting, Payne II allowed both runners to advance into scoring position on a passed ball.

Linscott followed with a two-run single that cut the Mud Monsters' eight-run lead in half at 10-6.

Both offenses went quiet in the sixth as Braden Forsyth emerged from Mississippi's bullpen and tossed a scoreless inning.

Mississippi answered Evansville's four-run fifth in the top of the seventh when Furr walked with one out and Holt plated him with an RBI double.

Unfortunately for Mississippi, what waited on the other side of the seventh-inning stretch was a seven-run inning from the Otters.

The Mud Monsters bullpen implosion featured four different arms, beginning with Forsyth, who surrendered a solo home run to Pierce to lead off the frame.

With the score now 11-7, Forsyth allowed back-to-back singles before Mississippi turned to Seth McCartney.

After working the count full to LG Castillo, McCartney issued a walk to load the bases.

Linscott followed with an RBI single before a TJ Salvaggio RBI groundout recorded the first out of the inning and cut the deficit to 11-9. Both runs were charged to Forsyth.

With runners still in scoring position, Jon Ponder singled home Castillo and Linscott to erase the deficit and tie the game at 11-11.

Braden Collett entered for McCartney with Ponder at first and walked the first batter he faced to put two aboard.

Amani Jones reached on a fielder's choice for the second out of the inning, but with runners on the corners, Collett's second walk loaded the bases and his third consecutive walk forced home the go-ahead run.

Southpaw Gage Bihm, Mississippi's fourth pitcher of the inning, entered needing the final out.

Gonzalez, batting for the second time in the inning, hit a ground ball to Slater Schield that was not fielded cleanly, allowing Evansville's thirteenth run to score and giving the Otters a 13-11 lead.

Down to their final three outs, the Mud Monsters found life in the ninth.

With Junior Cerda on the mound to close things out, Reed walked to begin the inning and Skinner smashed a ball into left-center field for a triple that scored Reed.

As Skinner dove into third, an errant throw from the Evansville outfield allowed him to sprint home and tie the game at 13-13.

Bihm held the Otters scoreless in the ninth to send the game to extra innings, the first of the season for Mississippi.

With the ghost runner slated to be Holt, manager Jay Pecci elected to pinch-run Jackson Nicklaus in the top of the tenth.

Mississippi could not bring home Nicklaus, and Chris Barraza entered looking to send the game to the eleventh.

With Evansville's Robertson serving as the ghost runner, Barraza walked one but kept the Otters off the board to send the game into Mississippi's first sudden-death extra-inning situation.

As the road team, the Mud Monsters started the eleventh with Semo at first base. If he came around to score, Mississippi would win. If Evansville held the scoreless tie, the Otters would claim victory.

Cerda got Fritz to ground into a double play for the first two outs before Reed grounded out to second, allowing Evansville to emerge victorious in both the game and the series.

The Mud Monsters continue their road trip tomorrow evening in Sauget, Illinois, opening a three-game series against the Gateway Grizzlies. First pitch is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. CT. Left-hander Art Joven (3-0, 4.12) gets the start for Mississippi and will be opposed by right-hander Ben Harris (3-2, 6.08).

Check out the Mississippi Mud Monsters Statistics

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