Otters Pitching Staff Fuels 3-0 Win in Battle for First Place
Published on June 15, 2013 under Frontier League (FL)
Evansville Otters News Release
(WASHINGTON, Pennsylvania) - Starter Rich Hawkins threw five scoreless innings and Andrew Clark homered in the 3-0 Otters win on Saturday night at Washington.
Hawkins and Washington starter Shawn Blackwell both kept the opposition scoreless through the first three innings.
Evansville rallied for the lead in the fourth inning. Outfielder C.J. Henry reached on a one out double and teammate Nick Schwaner scored him on an RBI single to right field. Leading 1-0, the Otters added to their lead when the next hitter, Clark, hit a two-run home run to right field. It was his team-high tying fifth home run of the season, giving Evansville a 3-0 edge at Washington.
Hawkins took his shutout in to the sixth inning where he recorded the first two outs but saw the next two batters reach. Facing the tying run, Hawkins got outfielder Andrew Heck to line a ball to short where Ryan Kresky made the inning-ending diving catch.
Hawkins would leave the game after 6.0 innings while only allowing five hits. Reliever Scott Weismann came in to pitch the seventh, striking out all three batters he would face in the frame.
Weismann continued to pitch in the eighth inning, striking out the first two batters he faced before getting an inning-ending groundout. He finished with five strikeouts in 2.0 innings pitched.
Holding a 3-0 lead in the ninth, Evansville turned to closer Eric Massingham. He struck out two batters in the inning but also saw two batters reach base. Facing the tying run, Massingham got a fly ball from infielder Shain Stoner to end the game and secure the win.
Evansville improves to 17-8 with the win, and stays two games ahead of Washington for first place in the Frontier League East Division. Hawkins (1-1) earns the win, as Massingham secured his sixth save.
The series deciding finale will take place on Sunday night at 5:05 pm EDT with right-hander Bryce Morrow (3-1, 2.03 ERA) on the mound for Evansville against righty Shawn Sanford (4-0, 1.02 ERA).
Fans can listen in to the radio broadcast of the game on the official home of the Evansville Otters, WUEV 91.5 FM! The pregame show starts at 3:45 pm CDT.
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