Otters Strike Early to Hold off CornBelters
August 31, 2016 - Frontier League (FL)
Normal CornBelters News Release
NORMAL, Ill.- The Normal CornBelters, presented by Illinois Corn Farmers, fell behind early and lost 8-3 to the Evansville Otters on Wednesday evening at the Corn Crib. The loss eliminated the CornBelters from the Frontier League post-season.
The Otters reached Normal starter Horacio Acosta quickly as the second hitter of the game, Kolten Yamaguchi, blasted a solo homer high onto the right field lawn. Evansville put four more runs up in the next frame with an RBI double by Julio Rodriguez, a sacrifice fly by Rolando Gomez and another Yamaguchi home run to plate two more for a 5-0 lead.
The CornBelters dented the scoreboard when Elvin Rodriguez led off the third inning with a home run just over the left field fence, and Aaron Dudley added a monstrous homer to the main gate sidewalk above right field later in the frame to cut the deficit to 5-2.
The Belters sliced one more run off the deficit to 5-3 on a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning by Dillon Haupt to plate Santiago Chirino.
The Otters extended the advantage to 6-3 in the seventh when Gomez led off with a double and scored on a base hit to right by Chris Riopedre, then to 8-3 in the eighth on a two-run homer to left by Chris Sweeney.
Shane Weedman (7-3) worked five innings for the win, giving up three runs (two earned) on four hits with five walks and six strikeouts. Horacio Acosta (9-4) received the loss with six innings of work, giving up five earned runs on eight hits with no walks, three hit batsmen and five strikeouts.
The series concludes on Thursday with a 6:35 p.m. first pitch as the Belters send right-hander Charlie Gillies (5-4, 4.45 ERA) to the mound. The Otters have not announced their starter. The game can be heard live on WJBC.com with pre-game at 6:20. Budweiser Thirst Quenching Thursday features $1 domestic drafts, $2 margaritas and pre-game music by Scott Marek, and college students are admitted for $5 with ID. The homestand and regular season continue Friday night and Saturday and Sunday afternoons against the Florence Freedom.
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