FL Evansville Otters

Otters Overcome 6-0 Deficit Only to Lose 9-8

Published on August 9, 2009 under Frontier League (FL)
Evansville Otters News Release


Sauget, IL - The Otters battled back from an early 6-0 deficit to take an 8-6 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning, but a pair of solo home runs and a sacrifice fly gave the Gateway Grizzlies a 9-8 walk-off win.

Andrew Werner, in his second start for Evansville, just didn't have it from the outset. He gave up six earned runs in 2/3 of an inning on four walks, two singles and a double. Gateway got two-run singles from Danny Morrow and Alex Kerins, taking a 6-0 lead after one inning.

The Otters bullpen would keep Evansville in the game though, shutting out the Grizzlies over the next seven innings.

The long climb back began in the fifth inning when Greg Alexander walked with bases loaded to cut the margin to 6-1.

The Otters added another tally in the sixth on a Marcus Rose RBI single and two more in the seventh on Luke Hetherington's RBI double and Eric Blackwell's RBI single.

Evansville completed the comeback in the eighth. Matt Schneider drove in two with a bases loaded single. Blackwell walked to reload the bases, and Andre Liscinsky drew a walk to give the Otters a 7-6 lead. On the day, Grizzly pitching issued fourteen walks. Rose singled home another run to give the Otters an 8-6 lead.

Otters' closer Justin Smith came on in the bottom of the eighth and pitched a scoreless frame. The ninth inning would be a different story.

Joe Agreste and Joseph Scaperotta led off with back-to-back home runs to tie the game at 8-8. Charlie Lisk, the next man up, walked and took second on a wild pitch. Catcher Tyler Diamond's throw to second skipped into centerfield and Lisk took third. With no one out still, the infield and outfield were drawn in. Jareck West popped out to shallow to right field with Lisk unable to tag up. The next batter, Danny Morrow, sent a ball over centerfielder Josh Howard's head to score Lisk and send the Grizzly faithful home happy.

Grizzlies' reliever Tom Vesely (1-2) earned the win, tossing a scoreless ninth inning. Smith blew the save and fell to 3-3.

With the win Gateway completed the sweep and now leads the season series 7-2. Evansville has lost six of seven overall.

The Otters (22-49) have an off-day Monday and then travel to Ypsilanti, Michigan to take on the Midwest Sliders Tuesday at 6:05pm CDT.

Check out the Evansville Otters Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Frontier League Stories from August 9, 2009


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central