FL Evansville Otters

Otters Game Preview

Published on August 16, 2015 under Frontier League (FL)
Evansville Otters News Release


Evansville, IN- The largest crowd of the season was on hand at Bosse Field last night while the Evansville Otters (49-28) took care of the Schaumburg Boomers (32-45) in a 4-1 game in front of 7,147 screaming and cheering fans.

The Otters arms on the mound kept the Boomers at bay for most of the game with the lone run for the Boomers coning in the top of the fifth inning to tie the game at 1-1. Cory Urquhart broke the tie in the bottom of the seventh with a two-out single up the middle and the combination of Connor Little and Edgar Lopez once again dominated the final innings of the games, racking up six strikeouts in the final three innings. After Urquhart's eventual game winning single, the big swing of the came come from the Otters' centerfielder Chris Sweeney who hit a two-run mammoth shot to left in the bottom of the eighth, supplying a pair of insurance runs in the Otters 4-1 victory.

For Sweeney, who hails from Mountain Top, PA, it was his 14th home run of the season, which gives him 35 as an Otter, one off from the Otters' All-Time record of 36. Sweeney will look to tie or even surpass Jeff Goldbach's 36 career home runs in the Otters series finale against the Boomers tonight at 5:05 pm CDT. Sweeney has a good chance to do just that because his home runs this year have come in bunches; he has now hit a home run in back-to-back series, but the centerfielder has four multi-home run games on the season so if you see one ball leaving the yard because of a sweet Sweeney swing, there is a good chance you might see another.

And the Otters have needed all of the offense Sweeney has provided because they have been without the reigning Frontier League MVP for almost the entirety of the second half of the season. Sweeney has stepped in and held down the cleanup spot in the lineup and done a more than serviceable job. His 14 home runs leads the team, one year after he would have broken the Otters single season record if not for Houck's 24 in the same year. He also has driven in 42 on the season, which is second on the club, trailing only John Schultz's 44, all the while playing a spectacular centerfielder where he has made great catch after great catch and insured runners rarely take the extra base on anything hit between right and left centerfielder because of his cannon-like arm.

The Otters are looking for back-to-back series wins after taking the Rockford series and splitting the first two games of this series against the Boomers. The starting pitcher tonight for the Otters will be Brett Marshall who is coming off of his best start as an Otter when he went seven innings of one run baseball against the Aviators on Tuesday in an Otters' 8-1 win. Marshall is 2-1 on the season and has a 2.89 ERA, and he will be opposed by the Boomers right-handed pitcher Taylor Thurber who has amassed a 1-2 record and a 4.33 ERA after firing six innings of three run baseball in his last outing.

The game's first pitch at Bosse Field is scheduled for 5:05 pm CDT with the pregame show featuring Mike Radomski, Bill McKeon, and Jake Donnelly scheduled to begin at 4:45 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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Frontier League Stories from August 16, 2015


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