Otters and Miners Battle for Supremacy in the East
August 7, 2015 - Frontier League (FL)
Evansville Otters News Release
Evansville, IN- The best record in the Frontier League is 45-25; it is owned by the Evansville Otters... and the Southern Illinois Miners. The Otters and Miners begin a pivotal three game series tonight at Bosse Field with the winner of the series ensured ending the week in first place atop the East Division of the Frontier League and the best record in the Frontier League as a whole.
After dropping the first two games of the series, the Otters came back last night to salvage their series against the Frontier Greys (32-35), defeating the perennially traveling opponents with a 7-1 score. Tyler Vail produced yet another quality start, his fifth in his last seven outings, by going 6.1 innings pitched, allowing just one run and striking out six (a season high) while walking just three batters.
The Otters got three hit nights from both Dane Phillips and Jeremy Nowak, who each drove in a run, and Nik Balog, in his first start since last Friday after fouling a pitch off of his foot, drove in a pair with a two-run two-out single in the third. The three through seven batters in the lineup for the Otters each drove in at least one run, with Alex Cruz collecting his first professional RBI.
The Otters will need that offense against the Southern Illinois Miners in their three game series. The Otters and Miners have played six games so far this season with the Otters winning just two of the battles. In their two wins, the Otters have scored 16 runs, but in their four losses, the Otters have scored just nine total runs averaging barely more than two runs per game. The one thing going in the Otters favor is the home crowd effect; the Otters played all six previous games against the Miners at Rent One Park, but this series will take place at Bosse Field where the Otters are 25-11.
The man on the mound for the Otters will be Preston Olson, who was pushed back from his start last night so he could face the Miners. Olson on the season is 5-3 with a 3.49 ERA and has not picked up a win since June 23rd despite going at least six innings in all of the six starts since then and not giving up more than four runs, which he has done just twice. He was superb in his last start, which occurred against the Miners on Sunday.
He went seven innings and allowed just two runs while striking out five and not walking a single batter. Like the Otters in general in that game, Olson was victimized by bloop singles and seeing-eye ground balls as the Miners could not make solid contact against the tall righty, but the expansive outfield in Rent One Park played to the favor of the Miners. The Miners will oppose the righty Olson with their left-handed hurler Rick Teasley (8-2, 2.48). Teasley opposed Olson last Sunday and went seven innings as well while allowing two runs, but the Otters continuously let him off the hook, having had multiple opportunities to break the game open, but unable to do so.
The Battle for First Place begins tonight on St. Mary's Night and Bike Helmet Giveaway Night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 pm CDT with the pregame show featuring Mike Radomski, Bill McKeon and Jake Donnelly slotted to start at 6:15 pm CDT. Game Two, which will take place tomorrow on Saturday night will start at the same time before the two teams finish their series with the finale on Sunday, starting at 5:05 pm CDT. Fans can listen to all three games in the Evansville area on 91.5 WUEV or online at EvansvilleOtters.com. Fans can purchase tickets by calling the team's front office at 812.435.8686 or online at EvansvilleOtters.com. For all of the latest information on the Otters, log on to EvansvilleOtters.com or follow the team's twitter account @EvilleOtters.
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