By: Braeden Jones

EVANSVILLE, IN – An early score for the Evansville Otters (25-15) could not hold as the Joliet Slammers (16-23) kept cutting away at the lead before winning 6-3 on Wednesday at Bosse Field.

In a stark contrast to yesterday’s game, the Otters would not be held scoreless until the 8th inning. They would instead score in the bottom of the 2nd inning of this game after a Blake Robertson double and TJ Salvaggio single paved the way for a 3-run homer from Jon Ponder. That gave Evansville the early 3-0 lead after two innings.

It took a few innings for the next score to happen, but the Slammers were the ones to do it in the top of the 5th inning. After previously loading the bases with no outs in the top of the 2nd but not being able to score, they found themselves in the same situation once again. This time, however, Jackson Valera hit a double that scored Ian Battipaglia and Tyler Cerny. This brought the score to 3-2, still in favor of the Otters.

 

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With Evansville’s lead at risk, Joliet kept putting on the pressure in the top of the 6th inning. Patrick Ward hit a single, and after a few hits got him to third base, Cerny would get an RBI single as Ward stepped on home plate. With the score now tied at 3-3, the Slammers were closer than ever to completing the comeback.

And they would indeed come back in this one as Joliet shined in the top of the 8th inning with three consecutive scoring plays. Cerny would once again score Ward off a single, Blake Berry brought Battipaglia home with a single of his own, and Valera had a sacrifice fly out that scored Cerny. All of the batters’ hard work helped to double the score to 6-3 in favor of the Slammers. That also was the final score of this match, which meant that Joliet successfully pulled off the comeback and held on to the lead to win this game.

Already having won this series, the Slammers will look for the sweep against the Otters on Thursday for their fifth win in a row. Evansville will look to slow down Joliet and get a win for their home crowd on Thursday.