SAUGET – The Gateway Grizzlies and Evansville Otters engaged in a pitcher’s duel deluxe in the rubber game of their three-game series on Thursday afternoon, and it was the home squad emerging victorious in the bottom of the ninth on a throwing error by a final score of 2-1 to win the midweek set at Arsenal BG Ballpark.
Both starters were sharp in the game. Gage Vailes turned in one of his finest outings of the season, allowing just one run on three hits over six innings with four strikeouts and two walks, and the Otters’ Garret Simpson was equal to the task, as he pitched to a nearly-identical line of six innings, three hits, one run, and two walks, finishing with a lone strikeout.
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For the third time in the series, it was Evansville that took the initial lead in the top of the third inning, as after Vailes retired the first seven batters he faced, he issued a walk to Parks Bouck, which David Mendham followed with an RBI double on the very next pitch for a 1-0 lead.
Vailes worked out of further trouble in that inning, and Gateway was able to tie the score in the bottom of the fifth when Edwin Mateo worked a one-out walk and stole second base before scoring on an RBI double by Tanner Garrison, knotting the ballgame up at 1-1.
Gateway then had several chances to break through late, stranding two runners on base in the seventh and leaving the bases loaded in the eighth, but being unable to take the lead. That changed in the bottom of the ninth against Alex Valdez (1-1), as Garrison led off with his third double of the game, putting the winning run in scoring position. Cole Brannen then laid down a sacrifice bunt in front of the plate, and Valdez threw the ball high to first base for an error, allowing pinch-runner Jose Alvarez to trot home with the winning run, and securing the first walk-off win of the season for the Grizzlies.
With the win, Gateway finishes 5-4 on their nine-game home stand, and will look to carry the momentum of back-to-back close wins over the Otters on the road this weekend in Avon, Ohio when they take on the Lake Erie Crushers at Crushers Stadium. Ben Harris will start the series opener for the Grizzlies, with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 p.m. CT.
