Otters Hold on for Wild Series Opening Win
August 20, 2024 - Frontier League (FL)
Evansville Otters News Release
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The Evansville Otters walked off on the Windy City ThunderBolts Tuesday night at Bosse Field, holding on for a 6-5 victory.
The game was made interesting late, as the Otters (38-48) gave up two separate leads to the ThunderBolts (34-52) throughout the game, but showed resilience with the bats and fought back to seal the win.
Windy City jumped ahead in the second with a solo home run before David Mendham launched a three-run blast in the third past the right field wall to make it 3-1.
Punching back in the sixth, the ThunderBolts tied the game at three, but Evansville had another response in the home frame.
Delvin Zinn led off with a hit-by-pitch. He stole second and was moved to third, before scoring on a wild pitch to give his club back the lead at 4-3. In the eighth, newly activated Clayton Keyes walked with one out. After a double from JJ Cruz, Giovanni DiGiacomo singled to second base which brought home an insurance run.
In the ninth, Pavin Parks came on to pitch. With two outs, he allowed the bases loaded and gave up the tying hit to force another half inning. On the two-RBI single, the Otters got a Windy City runner in a rundown and ended the inning with a play at the plate.
Gary Mattis led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk, then stole second and third. Parks stepped to the dish and hit a deep fly ball to right for a game-winning sacrifice fly.
During the rollercoaster night, Zach Smith started the game and went six innings giving up three runs (two earned) with eight strikeouts. Grif Hughes and Alex Valdez both tossed scoreless innings out of the bullpen.
Parks (2-1) took the win, while Jack Mahoney (5-4) took the loss. Both players threw in the final inning.
Attempting to win the series tomorrow, Evansville will play Windy City tomorrow with another 6:35 p.m. CT first pitch. Coverage is available on the Otters Digital Network and FloBaseball.
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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