SAUGET, Ill. – The Gateway Grizzlies wrapped up their six-game home stand strong on Sunday, downing the Evansville Otters 4-3 in a rubber match at GCS Credit Union Ballpark.
After three scoreless innings out the gate, Riley Krane teed up a solo home run to right to give the Otters a 1-0 lead. That edge doubled to 2-0 in the top of the fifth, when Andrew Penner reached on a fielder’s choice and advanced home following three wild pitches.
Then, with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth, Jose Rosario ripped a three-run double to the wall in left-center field and gave the Grizzlies a 3-2 advantage. One inning later, Ty Moore added a solo homer off the scoreboard in right to pad the cushion to 4-2.
Evansville sliced the deficit in half in the top of the seventh inning. With Cristopher Pujols on second and two outs, Elijah MacNamee tacked on an RBI single to make the score 4-3 Gateway.
But finally, in the top of the eighth, Jay Prather provided some insurance. The rookie out of the University of North Florida hit his second solo home run in as many nights to push the advantage to 5-3.
Grizzlies RHP Jorge Tavarez (4-3) earned the win after five innings of work in which he surrendered two runs on just three hits while striking out five. RHP Geoff Bramblett (8) pitched a clean ninth inning to complete the save. Meanwhile, Otters RHP Polo Portela (6-1) took his first loss as a professional after giving up the lead in the sixth.
The Grizzlies have Monday off before starting a four-game series across three days against the Lake Erie Crushers. A doubleheader kicks things off on Tuesday, with first pitch for game one at Mercy Health Stadium in Avon, Ohio set for 4:05 p.m. CDT. You can listen live on YO Radio or watch on Frontier League TV. Coverage begins with the Budweiser Pregame Show at 3:50 p.m.
