Otters Edge Washington 5-4 in Walk-Off Fashion
Published on August 15, 2014 under Frontier League (FL)
Washington Wild Things News Release
Evansville, IN-As the toughest stretch of games begin to unfold for the Washington Wild Things and the race for East Division supremacy tightens, the Wild Things were defeated by the Evansville Otters 5-4 in a hard-fought back and forth battle at Bosse Field on Friday. A walk-off solo home run by Evansville outfielder Chris Sweeney dropped the Wild Things into a second place tie and ½ game out of first with their current competitors.
Washington starter Shawn Blackwell earned the no decision, throwing five and two thirds innings allowing only two earned runs in his appearance. Things reliever Al Yevoli suffered the loss. Otters reliever Anthony Collazo earned the win for Evansville.
John Schultz put Evansville on the board in the bottom of the second as a defensive miscue by Washington's first baseman allowed Sweeney to score from third, 1-0. Scott Kalamar and Garrett Rau delivered back-to-back doubles for Washington to tie the game at one. However, Evansville regained the lead in the bottom of the third as an RBI single by Sweeney scored Shayne Houck and put the home team back in front 2-1. Kalamar provided the game-tying run in the top of the fifth with a sacrifice-fly scoring Ryan Kresky but Evansville once again took the lead in the bottom of the fifth as an Otters sacrifice-fly made the score 3-2.
Washington took their first lead of the night in the top of the sixth as Jim Vahalik connected for his fifth homerun of the season, a two-run shot, giving Washington a 4-3 and one-run advantage. But, in the bottom of the seventh, a RBI single by Chris Elder knotted the game at four. In the bottom of the ninth, Sweeney drilled his 15th home run of the season off Yevoli to carry the Otters to a crucial 5-4 win.
Washington will have another chance tomorrow night to even the series when the two teams square off for game two of the three-game series. First pitch is slated for 7:35 p.m. Listen to all the action with Randy Gore on WJPA 95.3 FM or follow the live game updates on Twitter @washwildthings.
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