Otters Can't Hold Off Miners, Lose 3-2
August 2, 2015 - Frontier League (FL)
Evansville Otters News Release
Marion, IL- The Evansville Otters (44-22) dropped a tough one tonight to the Southern Illinois Miners (43-23) as the Miners blooped their way to a 3-2 victory at Rent One Park.
Neither team could score for the first couple of innings, but John Schultz and Josh Allen changed all that in the top of the third. Schultz stepped to the plate with one out and doubled to left for his second hit of the game. Allen then hit a soft line drive to right-center field, plating Schultz and giving the Otters a 1-0 lead.
The Miners came back to score a run in the bottom of the fourth, scoring on a 5-4-3 double play after they had runners at the corners with nobody out. The Otters got the run right back in the top of the fourth when Dean Wilson tripled and was driven home by Schultz for his third hit of the night.
The 2-1 lead for the Otters would disappear though in the seventh inning when the Miners got a leadoff double and blooped a ball into right-center, putting runners at the corners and nobody out. A sacrifice fly tied the game and although Preston Olson, the starting pitcher for the Otters, got into trouble and had the bases loaded, he was able to get out of the inning with a strikeout.
The Otters came up empty in the eighth and Connor Little, who took over for Olson, sent the game into the ninth tied 2-2 by striking out the side in order. The Otters again could not score in the ninth and after Little struck out the first two batters of that inning, he gave up a double and threw a wild pitch to leave a Miner at third with one out. The Otters elected to walk that batter and bring in Edgar Lopez, but Lopez, after getting ahead 1-2, threw a breaking ball, which was blooped towards right-center, falling just out of the reach of Allen for the Miners 3-2 win.
Both Josh Allen and John Schultz collected three hits on the night and drove in a run while Dean Wilson picked up two ore hits for his second multi-hit game in as many nights. Despite getting the loss, Connor Little tallied five more strikeouts, giving him 53, all the while issuing just seven free bases (he has nine total, but two of the intentional variety).
The Otters resume play on Wednesday when they will start a three game series against the Frontier Greys with a doubleheader. That game will be Princess Night at Bosse Field with the first pitch of Game One scheduled for 5:35 and the gates opening at 5 pm CDT. 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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