EVANSVILLE, IND. – The Gateway Grizzlies were down 4-0 in the eighth inning against the Evansville Otters on Friday night in their season-opener, but stormed all the way back, scoring one run in the eighth to break up the shutout, then four times in the ninth to shock the crowd at Bosse Field with a 5-4 victory to begin the season 1-0 for the fourth straight season.
The Otters got on the board first in the bottom of the third inning on a David Mendham two-run single off Gateway starter Teague Conrad, going ahead 2-0. That doubled to 4-0 in the fifth inning when with runners at the corners and one out, Pavin Parks hit a ground ball in the hole at second base that was thrown low to first base for an error by Paxton Wallace, making the score 3-0. Then, when an additional runner tried to advance to third base, another error on the same play by Jose Alvarez brought that runner in to make the score 4-0.
Meanwhile, Gateway’s offense was stymied nearly all night long by the Otters’ pitching staff. Their first hit came in the fourth on a double by Wallace against Otters starter Braden Scott, and they were held off the scoreboard until there were two outs in the top of the eighth, when D.J. Stewart singled home Calyn Halvorson to make the score 4-1, setting up the top of the ninth inning.
Evansville brought in Joan Gonzalez to pitch, and he walked Dale Thomas to lead off the inning before Ross Friedrick crushed the Grizzlies’ first homer of the season, a 422-foot, no-doubter to right field to make it a 4-3 ballgame. Cole Brannen then singled to put the tying run on base with still no outs, and after a pitching change, Brannen took off for second base on the first pitch to Alvarez, who ripped a double down the left field line on the hit-and-run to tie the game at 4-4.
With Alvarez at third base after advancing on the throw home and no outs, Ryan Wiltse (0-1) got the next two batters out, but with a 2-2 count, Wallace came up clutch with the game-winning RBI single into center field, making the score 5-4 Grizzlies. That set up Sam Coonrod in the bottom of the inning, and the veteran right hander struck out the side in order for the save, clinching the dramatic victory.
Gateway will now look to win the series in a doubleheader on Saturday, May 10, at Bosse Field, sending Alvery De Los Santos and Lukas Veinbergs to the mound against the Otters’ Parker Brahms and Jon Beymer, respectively, with first pitch of game one scheduled for 5:05 p.m. CT.
