Jun 3, 2016 4 min read

For the first three weeks of the Frontier League season, getting hitters on base was a major problem for the Wild Things.

That’s why Washington entered Friday night last in the league with a .201 team batting average and 10th in the 12-team circuit with an anemic .298 on-base percentage.

In the series opener against the Evansville at Consol Energy Park, getting hits and baserunners wasn’t the problem for Washington. The Wild Things got ’em on and got ’em over. They just couldn’t get ’em in.

The Wild Things wasted 11 hits plus a quality start from pitcher Matt Fraudin during a 3-2 loss to the Otters before a crowd of 2,576.

“Sometimes you deserve to lose,” Washington manager Gregg Langbehn said.

While Fraudin, who gave up two runs over seven innings, deserved a better fate than a no-decision, the Wild Things squandered too many opportunities to give their starting pitcher a win. Washington left 12 runners on base and twice had the bases loaded with one out and failed to score. It added up to a third consecutive loss that evens the Wild Things’ record at 9-9.

“Too many missed opportunities and not very good situational hitting,” Langbehn explained. “Give Evansville credit, every time we failed to score after loading the bases they took that momentum and scored in the next inning.”

Washington led 1-0 in the third when it loaded the bases with one out. The Otters got out of the jam unscathed as Andrew Heck’s grounder to third base forced out Bryan Haar at home plate and Grant Fink bounced into an inning-ending force play.

In the top of the fourth, Evansville second baseman Josh Allen led off with a solo homer, former Pitt standout John Schultz followed with a triple and scored on Chris Breen’s sacrifice fly that gave the Otters a 2-1 lead.

Washington made it 2-2 in the bottom of the fourth. With Austin Wobrock on first base, Jamal Austin doubled to right field. When the throw from the outfield to second base skipped past shortstop Rolando Gomez, Wobrock scampered home with the tying run.

Washington had a golden opportunity to regain the lead in the seventh when it loaded the bases with one out on walks by David Popkins and Ricky Rodriguez and an infield single by Heck. Otters reliever Shane Weedman (3-0) wiggled out of the situation by striking out Fink and getting catcher Alex McKeon to pop out.

McKeon, to that point, was the bright spot in the Wild Things’ lineup. He finished the night with three singles including one in the second inning that drove in the game’s initial run.

Washington’s 11 hits came after producing only five over its last two games, both losses at Normal.

“It’s frustrating, for sure,” McKeon said. “That’s why timely hitting is a big part of the game. We had good opportunities tonight.”

Evansville scored the game-winner in the eighth off reliever Kolin Stanley (0-1). A leadoff single by Gomez was followed by an RBI-double off the right-field wall by Allen.

Randy McCurry, the fourth Otters pitcher of the game, got the final three outs for his fifth save.

Fraudin gave up only four hits and two runs. He retired 11 of the last 12 batters he faced.

“I thought he threw great,” McKeon said. “He had a good handle on his fastball, especially later in the game. They were beating a lot of balls into the ground against him.”

Prior to the game, Washington made a flurry of roster moves. Pitcher Sam Agnew-Wieland was activated from the disabled list, and first baseman Scott Carcaise (.129), second baseman John Ziznewski (.097) and pitcher Tyler Garkow (0-2, 11.05) were released. The moves left Washington at 22 active players, which is the minimum allowed by the Frontier League. … Evansville first baseman Nik Balog went 0-for-2 with two walks, ending his 20-game hitting streak that extended back to last season. … The Frontier League has changed its playoff format this season, trimming the qualifiers from six to four and eliminating the one-game wild-card playoffs. The six-team format was used for two years and Washington won a wild-card playoff game at Evansville in 2014.