EVANSVILLE, IND. – The Gateway Grizzlies got huge RBI days at the plate from D.J. Stewart and Dale Thomas and pounded out 15 total hits offensively in an 11-6 victory over the Evansville Otters at Bosse Field on Sunday night, giving them five straight wins overall entering the all-star break.
For the second night in a row, it was the Otters who got the game’s first run thanks to three straight two-out singles off Zac Treece in the bottom of the first, with L.J. Jones putting Evansville in front 1-0.
But that lead would not last- in the top of the third inning, with two men already on base and two outs, Mark Shallenberger walked to load the bases for Stewart, who put Gateway in front with a two-run single to center field at 2-1. Victor Castillo followed with another walk to re-load the bases, and Thomas then put two more runs on the board with an RBI single of his own to make it a 4-1 ballgame. Edwin Mateo followed Thomas with an RBI hit of his own to chase Evansville starter Garret Simpson (0-3) and make it a 5-1 Grizzlies advantage.
Evansville would get three of those runs back with two outs in the bottom of the third when Jones stroked a three-run home run to right field to cut the lead to 5-4, but the Otters would not get closer, and after Claudio Galva (4-1) stabilized things on the mound with a pair of scoreless innings, Gateway would add insurance in the fifth and sixth innings.
Thomas got his third RBI of the game on a single in the former inning to make it 6-4 Grizzlies, and Gateway would bat around for the second time in the game in the latter. Abdiel Diaz made it 7-4 with an RBI double past third base, and Stewart came up with two men on later in the inning and clubbed a three-run home run to left field, giving the three-time all-star five runs batted in on the day, and putting the Gateway lead at 10-4.
That put the game out of reach for the slumping Otters, who would score single runs in the eighth and the ninth innings against Francis Peguero after an RBI single by Cole Brannen in the top of the eighth to complete the scoring in the game. Every Grizzlies position player in the game had at least one hit, and seven of the nine in the lineup also scored at least one run, as Gateway tied their longest win streak of the season with the victory while sending the Otters to their 12th straight loss.
Now just one game back of first place and a season-high 15 games over .500, the Grizzlies will begin their post-all-star break schedule at home this Friday, July 18, against the Schaumburg Boomers in a big clash between the top two teams in the division. First pitch at Arsenal BG Ballpark is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT.
Grizzlies Rally to Take Down Evansville in Extras
Gateway clinches final series before all-star break by scoring twice in the tenth
EVANSVILLE, IND. – The Gateway Grizzlies took down the Evansville Otters in a back-and-forth contest by a final score of 6-5 in 10 innings on Saturday night at Bosse Field, clinching the club’s fourth win in a row as well as the series victory in the penultimate game before the all-star break.
The scoring began in the bottom of the second inning against Lukas Veinbergs, as Pavin Parks led off the frame with a walk, went from first to third base on an error on a pickoff throw by the Grizzlies starter, and scored on a wild pitch to make it 1-0 Evansville. Gateway would also take advantage of a leadoff walk in the next half inning by Otters starter Joan Gonzalez, with Cole Brannen going from first to third base on a single by Jose Alvarez before Abdiel Diaz made it 1-1 on an RBI fielder’s choice.
In the top of the fourth inning, Gateway took their first lead on a two-run home run by Dale Thomas out to left-center field, making the score 3-1. That lead held until the bottom of the fifth, when the Otters got back-to-back leadoff singles, then scored a run when David Mendham reached on a two-base error by Thomas to make it 3-2. After Veinbergs picked up a strikeout, he got Parks to ground out to shortstop, scoring the tying run, but minimizing the damage and keeping it a 3-3 ballgame into the sixth.
After a scoreless inning for both teams, Paxton Wallace led off the seventh with a double, went to third base on a sac bunt by Brannen, and scored on Alvarez’s RBI single to put the Grizzlies in front for the second time at 4-3. That lead did not last long, however, as L.J. Jones hit a two-out solo home run off Alvery De Los Santos, tying the contest again at 4-4.
Evansville got chances with multiple baserunners on in both the eighth and ninth innings to take the lead or win the game, but the Gateway bullpen held strong, sending the contest to extra innings. With the International Tiebreaker in effect, a wild pitch by Alex Valdez (2-5) moved the automatic runner to third base before Diaz came up clutch with a go-ahead RBI double for his fifth run driven in of the series, putting Gateway ahead 5-4. With still no outs in the inning, Mark Shallenberger followed by hitting a ground ball to first base to move Diaz to third, and D.J. Stewart brought in a critical insurance run with an RBI single through the left side of the drawn-in Otters infield to make it a 6-4 Grizzlies advantage.
In the bottom of the tenth, Evansville moved their automatic baserunner to third on a groundout against Alec Whaley, then scored that run on a Keenan Taylor sacrifice fly to make it 6-5. J.J. Cruz then reached base on an infield single off Whaley’s glove to put the tying run on base and bring the winning run to the plate, but the veteran earned just his second career save when he got J.T. Benson to hit into a game-ending fielder’s choice to Stewart, sending the reeling Otters to their eleventh straight loss.
Grizzlies Score Early, Often to Crush Otters
Gateway scores nine runs in first two innings to take command on the road
EVANSVILLE, IND. – The Gateway Grizzlies began the contest on Friday night against the Evansville Otters by scoring three runs before recording an out, and kept up the offensive onslaught from there, recording 19 total hits as a team in 12-3 blowout win at Bosse Field, the club’s third in a row.
Jose Alvarez began the game with a single off Parker Brahms (2-5), and went from first to third base on a single by Abdiel Diaz followed by the first of five Evansville errors they committed on the night. Mark Shallenberger walked to load the bases, and D.J. Stewart got the scoring started with an RBI single, followed quickly by a two-run single from Victor Castillo that made it 3-0 Grizzlies immediately.
Gateway was unable to get any more runs that inning, but pounced again in the second inning with five straight hits to start off the frame. After Alvarez singled to lead off again, Diaz cranked his second home run of the season over the right field wall to make it 5-0 Grizzlies. Shallenberger followed with a single, and Stewart doubled just inside the third base bag to chase Brahms from the game. Castillo then greeted new pitcher Jackson Malouf with his second two-run single in as many innings, increasing the lead to 7-0.
An error on a pickoff to first base by Malouf then sent Castillo to third base, and Edwin Mateo reached base on another Otters error to bring him home and make it 8-0. After a wild pitch, Paxton Wallace singled to left field, with yet another error in the outfield allowing Mateo to score on the play for a 9-0 advantage.
That was all the Grizzlies needed, as Ben Harris (5-0) pitched a gem, allowing just one run on three hits while striking out a career-high nine to keep the Otters down.
Meanwhile, Gateway was able to score two more runs in the top of the fifth inning on back-to-back RBI singles by Dale Thomas and Mateo to take their largest lead at 11-0. Evansville got on the board in the bottom of the frame on a two-out RBI single by Ellis Schwartz, then plated two more runs in the seventh inning on a David Mendham two-out RBI hit to get within 11-3, but would get no closer. The Grizzlies added their final run on a bases-loaded walk by Diaz in the eighth inning against Jon Beymer, as they won their third straight game overall while dealing Evansville their tenth consecutive loss.
