Otters Get Swept in Double Header, 4-3/6-1
Published on May 31, 2015 under Frontier League (FL)
Evansville Otters News Release
Crestwood, IL- The Evansville Otters (10-5) dropped their first series of the season since the season opener after losing both ends of a doubleheader today against the Windy City Thunderbolts (5-9) by scores of 4-3 and 6-1.
Game One started off well for the Otters as Ronnie Richardson tripled to start the game and was driven home on a sacrifice fly by Nik Balog. They put two more up on the board in the second inning after Josh Allen singled with one out and proceeded to steal second base. That set the scene for JD Dorgan's single, which made it a 2-0 game before Richardson singled to put runners on the corners and John Schultz drove home his fifth run of the road trip with a single to left.
Otters' starter, Tyler Vail, was breezing along, retiring the Thunderbolts cleanly in the first four frames, but ran into trouble in the fifth. After getting the first out of the inning, he walked the nine batter to put two men on with one out. He got Coco Johnson to popout to center, but the Thunderbolts responded with three straight two out singles to tie the game at 3-3.
The Thunderbolts would complete the comeback in the seventh inning. Johnson began the frame with a bunt singe down the third baseline and then took second on reliever Adam Mott. Mike Torres was called to lay down a bunt on a 1-2 pitch and did just that, putting Johnson at third with just one out. Jonathan Garcia was the next man to bat for the Thunderbolts and he hit a flyball to right field, deep enough to drive in the game winning run.
Chris DeBoo pitched two scoreless innings in relief for the Thunderbolts to move to 1-0 on the season as Adam Mott got saddled with the loss in 1.2 innings pitched. The Otters are now 1-2 on the season in extra inning games.
Although the Otters had Efrain Nieves going for Game Two and the lefty was sporting a 2-0 record and 0.00 ERA entering the game, he did not have his best stuff. The Thunderbolts, who had not scored in 39 innings before the three fun fifth in Game One, were apparently rejuvenated and it showed in their bats.
They plated two in the bottom of the second inning on a two out double by Ransom LaLande and a two out single by Ryan Tufts. They did the same in the third inning off of Nieves with a two out triple by Jonathan Garcia and a single by Ryan Dietrich. Two more runs came home in the fourth inning on an RBI groundout by Tyler Clark and a two out RBI single by Torres. The only run of the game for the Otters came in the fifth and that was on a passed ball.
Thunderbolts starter Danny Jimenez pumped his record back to .500 at 1-1 while Nieves saw his drop to 2-1. Connor Little was impressive out of the pen, firing two scoreless frames while allowing just one hit and striking out a pair.
The Otters are get back to action on Wednesday when they play a double header against the Gateway Grizzlies with the first game scheduled to start at 5:35 CDT P.M. and the pregame show scheduled to start at 5:15 CDT P.M. You can catch all of the action on WUEV 91.5 FM or on our website with the pregame show starting at 5:45 PM.
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.
Frontier League Stories from May 31, 2015
- Freedom Swept by CornBelters - Florence Y'alls
- Miners Move into First Place with Doubleheader Sweep - Southern Illinois Miners
- Slammers Give up Early Runs in Loss - Joliet Slammers
- Beach Bums Take Two from Aviators - Rockford Aviators
- CornBelters Sweep 6-Game Road Trip with Victory at Florence - Normal CornBelters
- Washington Beats Gateway to End Homestand - Gateway Grizzlies
- ThunderBolts Snap Losing Streak with Doubleheader Sweep of Evansville - Windy City ThunderBolts
- Otters Get Swept in Double Header, 4-3/6-1 - Evansville Otters
- Slammers Drop to Miners in Game One of Doubleheader - Joliet Slammers
- Washington Completes Sweep in 6-1 Victory over Grizzlies - Washington Wild Things
- Boomers Swept in Doubleheader - Schaumburg Boomers
- Lake Erie Crushers Postponed - Lake Erie Crushers
- Boomers Bring Back McQuail, Add Bolt & Qualls - Schaumburg Boomers
- Grizzlies Come Up Short Against Washington - Gateway Grizzlies
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