Washington Avoids Sweep, Inches Closer to Playoff Berth
WASHINGTON, Pa. (August 21) – The Washington Wild Things defeated the Evansville Otters 7-2 to avoid the sweep. The Wild Things’ bats came alive in the first and kept them in the lead the rest of the way. This win now puts their playoff magic number at three and their West Division magic number at five.
Evansville had a 1-0 lead after the top of the first, but Washington immediately answered back strong. Wagner Lagrange hit a two-run RBI triple into the right-field corner to get Washington its first lead of the series. Andrew Czech followed with an RBI single to extend the lead to two runs. To top it all off, Ian Walters hit a two-run home run to make it 5-1 after the first.
Washington got two insurance runs off solo home runs by Tristan Peterson in the fourth and Czech in the fifth. Evansville’s Miles Gordon scored a run on a sacrifice by Zach Biermann in the sixth to make it 7-2, which was the score heading into the ninth.
Lukas Young closed this game for the Wild Things. After the first batter popped out to short, the next hit a triple and reached home on a wild pitch to make it 7-3 soon after. The next two Evansville batters, however, both grounded out to short, ending the game, and giving Young the save.
Justin Showalter started for Washington. He pitched six innings, allowed two runs, three hits, walked two and struck out four. Dan Kubiuk pitched one three-up three-down inning in relief of Showalter. Kenny Pierson pitched one inning after Kubiuk and walked one while striking out another.
Washington (55-29) will begin its final road trip of the regular season with a series at second-place Schaumburg with big playoff implications. The Wild Things return home August 30 for another series with Evansville to start their last home stand of the regular season. Tickets can be found at wildthingstickets.com.
