GRIZZLIES COME BACK, WIN SERIES OPENER
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — After falling behind by two in the sixth inning, the Gateway Grizzlies scored twice in the seventh and once more in the eighth to steal the series opener from the Evansville Otters on Tuesday night at Bosse Field.
The win jumped the Grizzlies (11-11) over Evansville (10-11) and into third place in the Frontier League's West Division, only 3.5 games back of first-place River City.
Gateway's bullpen came up big again. Patrick Boyle worked 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief; he allowed only one hit and struck out three to pick up his first professional win. Ryan McSweeney entered in the ninth and tossed a perfect inning with a strikeout to snare his first professional save in the absence of regular Grizzlies closer Kevin Simmons, who's on the injured list.
Gateway led 1-0 and 2-1 in the early innings, but the Otters came back to take the lead in the sixth.
Terry McClure had four hits, including a triple, and Matt Gonzalez added three hits in his Grizzlies debut. Artemis Kadkhodaian drove in Jonathan Piron on an eighth-inning walk to give the Grizzlies the lead for good.
Evansville walked in two Gateway runs, and committed two errors — one of which led to an unearned Grizzlies run. Gateway, meanwhile, neither walked a batter nor made an error all night.
Max MacNabb allowed four runs (all earned) over 5 2/3 innings. He did not factor in the decision.
Gateway and Evansville battle in game two of the three-game series at 6:35 p.m. Wednesday night at Bosse Field.
ABOUT THE GATEWAY GRIZZLIES: The Gateway Grizzlies are a professional baseball team, located a mere 100-yards from I-255 (10 minutes from downtown St. Louis). The Grizzlies offer baseball fans entertainment, the likes of which are difficult to find - affordable, family, fun in the comfortable GCS Credit Union Ballpark with a great view of the St. Louis skyline. For tickets or general information please visit gatewaygrizzlies.com or call 618.337.3000.
ABOUT THE FRONTIER LEAGUE: The Frontier League is a professional, independent baseball organization. Since its inception, the Frontier League has provided millions of fans to a fun and exciting baseball experience within the American Midwest. Consisting of 12 teams in two divisions and 96 game schedules, the league is recognized for the amount of talented athletes that are picked up by various MLB teams every year.