Washington Can't Climb Out of Early Hole

EVANSVILLE, In. (May 12) - The Washington Wild Things dropped the second game of the opening series in Evansville Saturday night after digging an early hole they couldn't climb out of, despite bringing the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning. Washington (1-1) fell to Evansville (1-1) by a final score of 8-5 at Bosse Field.

After spinning two scoreless innings to begin his Wild Things' debut, Washington starter Thomas Dorminy was tagged for four runs (three earned) in the third inning and was lifted from the game just 2.1 innings into the outing.

Evansville got the scoring going with an RBI single off the bat of shortstop Toby Thomas, which plated left fielder Ryan Long to make it 1-0. Long's run was unearned as he had reached to start the inning on an error. Following the single, right fielder Jeff Gardner lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to make it 2-0 in favor of the Otters. Third baseman Travis Harrison doubled home a run and first baseman Brandon Dulin knocked in the fourth run of the inning with a single. Griffin Krieg came on for the Wild Things and got an inning-ending double play to escape the jam.

Krieg then surrendered three runs in the fourth to the Otters. The first came in on a single by Gardner and the second and third were plated by a two-run home run from Harrison, who finished a triple shy of the cycle.

The Washington bats were stifled by Evansville starter Pat McGuff, who tossed six scoreless innings in his Otters' debut. The Wild Things got on the board in the seventh on a three-run home run by James Harris, his second home run in as many nights.

Evansville added a run in the eighth, before Washington scored two, one on a groundout by pinch-hitter Louis Mele with the bases loaded and one on a sacrifice fly by Harris, in the ninth before having the comeback halted by a Roman Collins line out to second base. Collins represented the game's tying run at the plate for the Wild Things.

The two teams will play a rubber game tomorrow at 3:05 p.m. EST. Ryan Castellanos will start for Washington while Tyler Vail gets the nod for the Otters.

Box Score: http://frontier.bbstats.pointstreak.com/boxscoretext.html?gameid=443542

AROUND THE FRONTIER LEAGUE (Saturday Night) 

Southern Illinois Miners 3 def. Lake Erie Crushers 2

MARION, Il. – A sixth inning solo home run from right fielder Nolan Earley, his second of the day, proved to be the difference in a 3-2 Southern Illinois Miners victory over the Lake Erie Crushers Saturday night. Trailing 1-0 early, the Crushers notched two runs in the top half of the sixth before designated hitter Chance Shepard tied the game at two to lead off the bottom of the sixth with a solo shot of his own for the Miners. Kurt Heyer got the win on the mound, tossing six innings and allowing just two runs on three hits. He had seven strikeouts seven strikeouts, while John Werner grabbed a save by striking out two in a scoreless inning of work. Lake Erie (0-2) will look to avoid an opening series sweep at the hands of Southern Illinois (2-0) Sunday afternoon.

Florence Freedom 10 def. Joliet Slammers 1

FLORENCE, Ky – Thanks to five runs in the bottom of the first inning, the Florence Freedom rolled to a 10-1 win over the Joliet Slammers to complete the beginning-of-the-season sweep. Freedom centerfielder Andre Mercurio paced the team’s offense, launching his first home run of the season and driving in four runs. Starting pitcher Steve Hagen earned the win after twirling six innings of one-hit ball, striking out eight Slammers' hitters. Catcher Trey Fulton and right fielder R.J. Thompson had the lone two hits in the game for Joliet.

CRESTWOOD, Il. – Game three of the series between the Windy City ThunderBolts and River City Rascals was postponed to a later date that has yet to be determined due to weather complications.

Traverse City Beach Bums 8 def. Normal CornBelters 7

NORMAL, Il. – Second baseman Max Dutto launched a go-ahead solo home run in the top of the ninth inning to give Traverse City an 8-7 win over Normal. The back-and-forth game featured four lead changes before it came to its end. Centerfielder Donald Glover Jr., third baseman Kenny People-Walls and designated hitter Luke Lowry each drove in two runs for the Beach Bums, while catcher Tanner Lubach paced the CornBelters' offensive attack with a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth. Traverse City (1-1) and Normal (1-1) will conclude the three-game set Sunday afternoon.

Gateway Grizzlies 8 def. Schaumburg Bloomers 0

SHAUMBERG, Il. – Designated hitter Blake Brown and second baseman Jonathon Piron combined for five hits and five RBI en route to a decisive 8-0 win for the Gateway Grizzlies over the Schaumburg Bloomers. Third baseman Joel McKeithan added a solo homer in the win for the Grizzlies, and starting pitcher Dakota Smith surrendered just three hits over six innings on the mound to secure the win. The Boomers mustered just five hits in the setback. Game three of the series between Schaumburg (0-2) and Gateway (2-0) is set to begin at 6:05 p.m. Sunday evening.