Otters Fall in Series Middle Game
Published on August 9, 2025 under Frontier League (FL)
Evansville Otters News Release
CRESTWOOD, Ill. - The Evansville Otters (27-50) dropped the middle game against the Windy City ThunderBolts (30-47) on Saturday night, 6-1. They set themselves up for their eighth road series rubber match of the season.
Dennis Pierce got the Otters going early with a leadoff triple, but he would be stranded there after three straight outs.
Ryan Wiltse made his fifth start of the season and gave a really good spot start. He allowed a run in the first, but stranded the bases loaded. Two baserunners reached in the second, but a great diving catch from J.T. Benson in right field saved two runs. Wiltse allowed a leadoff home run in the third, but really settled in afterwards. He got two strikeouts to end the third, and two in each of the fourth and fifth innings to end with nine on his evening, leaving the game with a 2-0 deficit.
Nolan Thebiay followed Wiltse and picked up where he left off by striking out the side in the sixth.
Evansville's offense after the triple from Pierce was mostly quiet. That was until Keenan Taylor launched a ball to left field to begin the seventh. It was initially called foul, but after a lengthy conversation between all the umpires, it was changed to a fair ball to give Taylor his ninth homer of the year and cut the ThunderBolts lead in half. Graham Brown followed with a double, but was stranded at third with the score still at 2-1.
Thebiay went back out for seventh, but a bloop double led to a Windy City run, making it 3-1.
Adrian Montilva worked the eighth, but was tagged for three runs to give Windy City a 6-1 lead. Evansville didn't have a baserunner after the G. Brown double and eventually fell to the ThunderBolts on Saturday night.
Evansville's starters continued to shine, as they've now had at least seven strikeouts in four of their five games this week. As a whole pitching staff, they have struck out 11 or more in each of their last three games, with 63 total strikeouts through the five games this week.
The Otters will send out their All-Star and All-Time strikeout leader Braden Scott (5-4, 3.32 ERA) for the rubber match tomorrow afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. CT in Crestwood. After a travel day on Monday, Evansville will travel to Mississippi to take on the Mud Monsters for three games.
All games can be heard on 96.9 WYIR and the Otters Digital Network and can be viewed live on the HomeTeam Network.
The Evansville Otters are the 2006 and 2016 Frontier League champions.
The Otters play all home games at historic Bosse Field, located at 23 Don Mattingly Way in Evansville, Ind. Stay up to date with the Evansville Otters by visiting evansvilleotters.com, or follow the Otters on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
For more information, visit evansvilleotters.com or call (812) 435-8686.
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