wcthunderbolts.com

EVANSVILLE, IN – The ThunderBolts avoided a sweep and wrapped up a winning road trip, beating the Evansville Otters 9-5 at Bosse Field Thursday night.

For the first time in the series, Evansville (48-32) struck first as Josh Allen hit a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning.

Rob Weissheier answered with his seventh home run of the season, a solo shot in the top of the second, and the ThunderBolts (37-43) didn’t trail the rest of the way. John Sechen’s two-run homer in the third made it 3-1 in the Bolts’ favor. Later in the inning, Dan Robinson walked and Weissheier singled him in.

The Otters tried to make a game of it with two runs in the bottom of the frame. Allen hit an RBI double and scored on a Riley Krane sacrifice fly. But the Bolts pulled away with a four-run fourth. Nikola Vasic and Payton Robertson had RBI singles in the rally.

The two teams traded runs the rest of the way. Jeffrey Baez hit a solo home run for Evansville to make it 8-4 but the ThunderBolts got the run back when Brynn Martinez singled, stole second and scored on an error. The Otters tried to tighten it up, scoring a run on three hits in the bottom of the ninth but they fell short, leaving two on base.

Logan Wiley (6-1) won his sixth straight decision, allowing four runs over six innings. Austin Gossman (2-6) took the loss. He allowed eight runs in 3.1 innings. 

Following their 5-4 road trip, the ThunderBolts now return home to play 12 of their final 16 games at Ozinga Field. Friday night’s contest with the Joliet Slammers will feature organ music throughout the game performed by former White Sox organist Nancy Faust. Bryan Ketchie (2-5, 5.40) starts for the Bolts against Joliet’s Cam Aufderheide (1-9, 4.59) Tickets, along with links to the audio and video broadcasts can be found at wcthunderbolts.com.

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