Frontier League

 

ThunderBolts take shutout loss in opener with Evansville

Otters 2 Bolts 0

CRESTWOOD, IL – Zac Westcott continued his strong start to the season, allowing one run on five hits over seven innings but the ThunderBolts lost to the Evansville Otters 2-0 at Standard Bank Stadium Tuesday night.

Westcott pitched around some trouble early in the game. The Otters (6-4) put a runner at second base with two outs in three of the first five innings but were unable to score as Westcott struck out at least one in each of the first six frames.

The ThunderBolts (5-4) had a chance to score in the fifth inning when they got a one-out double from Tyler Straub but he was stranded at third, as the game remained scoreless.

The first run came in the seventh. With one out and nobody on base, Brandon Dulin sent a fly ball over the right field wall for his first home run of the year, making it 1-0 in favor of Evansville.

They added a run the next inning on back-to-back two-out doubles from Zach Welz and Toby Thomas.

The Bolts’ last good scoring chance was in the bottom of the seventh inning, when Riley Krane hit a leadoff double. He was at third with one out but Luc Rennie got Straub to hit into an inning-ending double play.

Rennie (2-0) went seven shutout innings for the win while Westcott took the loss to fall to 0-2 despite a 0.82 ERA. He tied his career-high with 11 strikeouts, the second time he has done so in three starts this year. Westcott has now seen just two runs of support in 22 innings pitched.

Mitchell Aker pitched a scoreless ninth inning and picked up his fifth save.

The ThunderBolts and Otters continue their series on Wednesday morning with a 10:35 first pitch for the third School Day of the year, presented by Noodles & Company. Patrick Ledet (2-0, 0.64) makes the start for the Bolts against Evansville’s Randy Wynne (1-1, 2.46). Fans not in attendance can hear the radio broadcast on WXAV 88.3 FM and wxav.com.

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