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FL New England Knockouts

Neil Uskali & the Offensive Lift New England to Series Opener Victory

July 5, 2024 - Frontier League (FL)
New England Knockouts News Release


EVANSVILLE, IN- Jake Boone went 2 for 4 and four RBIs, including a three-run home run to give New England an 11-6 victory over Evansville on Friday night at Boose Field. The Knockouts boosted the record to 14-35, while the Otters slipped to 19-30.

New England's starting pitcher Neil Uskali led his team to victory by picking up his first win of the season, making him 1-1 overall. He pitched seven impressive innings, allowing only one run. He gave up just five hits, issued one walk, and struck out an impressive 11 batters. Evansville's starter, Terance Marin, took the loss. He is now 0-2 on the season. After pitching four innings. Marin allowed three hits, five runs (with one earned), walked three batters, and struck out three.

The Knockouts took the lead in the bottom of the second when Brady West started the inning with a double. An error by Mason White allowed him to advance to third. Then, Nolan Lucier walked, and Keagan Calero was hit by a pitch, loading the bases for the Knockouts. J.R. DiSarcina grounded out to third base, allowing Calero to score. Lucier also scored on an error by Dakota Phillips, extending the Knockouts' lead.

In the bottom half of the inning, Evansville wasted no time in replying to the New England score. Phillips kicked off the bottom of the inning by hitting his second home run of the season.

In the top of the third inning, with one out, Jalen Garcia reached base on a fielder's choice. He then stole second base and was subsequently driven in by West with an RBI double, bringing the score to 4-1. The Knockouts extended their lead in the fourth inning when, with New England having runners on the corners, Jake Boone came through with an RBI single.

The Knockouts extended their lead in the sixth inning by scoring three runs on two hits. The Otters managed to get the first two outs of the inning quickly, but DiSarcina walked and White singled through the right side, putting runners on the corners for New England. White then stole second, putting two Knockouts runners in scoring position with nobody out. Boone then hit his fourth home run of the season, making the score 8-1 in favor of the Knockouts.

New England extended their lead when John Cristino, the recently named All-Star, singled through the right side that made it 9-1 and Jalen Garcia followed with an RBI single. The Knockouts added one more on the board when Cristino scored on a wild pitch.

In spite of holding a commanding 11-1 lead, Evansville didn't go down without a fight in the late stages of the game in the eighth. Gio DiGiacomo singled to left center field, and Gary Mattis followed it up with a double to right center field, putting the Otters in a promising position with two runners in scoring position and no outs. David Mendham then grounded out to Ramon Jimenez at first, scoring a run. Later on, with the bases loaded, Phillips drove in another run, making it an 11-3 game. Otters added one more run with a White RBI single to left field.

Evansville scored two more runs in the ninth inning. Delvin Zinn hit his first home run of the season, and Randy Bednar drove in a run with an RBI single, bringing Mattis home from second base. The game concluded with Phillips striking out swinging.

The duo of West and Boone had a multi-hit game, while four different Knockouts recorded a hit. For the Otters, the trio of Mendham, White, and Phillips each recorded a multi-hit game, while five different Evansville recorded a single hit.

The Knockouts continue their road trip tomorrow, playing in game two of their weekend series versus the Evansville Otters. They return to Campanelli Stadium on July 9th, beginning a six-game homestead against the Tri-City ValleyCats. Tickets for the week can be found at https://tickets.knockoutsbaseball.com/.

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