EVANSVILLE, Ind. (June 20, 2026) — Too little too late told the story Saturday evening as the Mississippi Mud Monsters ninth inning comeback fell short in a 4-3 loss to the Evansville Otters (25-12).Tyler Campbell took the hill looking to improve upon his debut week in which the left-hander tossed 14.0 innings, picked up two wins in two starts and struck out 11 men while walking three.Mississippi’s offense found itself trailing and shut down early on after Evansville punched first by bringing home a run on a two-out RBI single by Blake Robertson, scoring Jon Ponder to make it 1-0 Otters.The bats laid dormant the first go around as all nine batters were retired in order by Evansville starter Ryan Wiltse through the first three frames. Evansville increased their lead in their chance in the home half of the third inning as leadoff man Ponder took Campbell’s second offering of the frame and smashed it over the left field wall for a solo home run to make it 2-0. After 4.1 perfect innings and retiring the first 13 men he faced, Ryan Wiltse finally surrendered his first hit when AJ Fritz doubled with one out in the fifth.The second out of the inning was picked up on a fielder’s choice by Andrew Semo that saw Fritz caught in a rundown. After Semo reached, he attempted to steal second during Slater Schield’s at bat but was thrown out. Evansville answered Mississippi’s first hit of the evening with Ponder scoring for the third time in the game in the bottom half of the inning. Ponder led off the frame with a double, moved to third on a groundout and tagged from third to come in on a sacrifice fly by Dennis Pierce increasing the Evansville advantage to 3-0. The Mud Monsters were able to scratch their first run across in the top of the sixth. Schield walked to begin the frame and Samil De La Rosa, in his second at bat since coming off the injured list, followed with a double to put runners in scoring position. Number nine batter, Vantrel Reed sent a ground ball past the bag that Otters second baseman J.J. Cruz made a diving attempt on for a run-scoring infield single to cut into Evansville’s lead 3-1. Evansville tacked on one final run in the bottom of the seventh inning. After tossing 6.0 innings and allowing three runs on seven hits while walking none and striking out three, Campbell recorded his third consecutive quality start to begin his Frontier League career.Connor Langrell entered out of the bullpen replacing Campbell and was greeted by a leadoff single by Ponder.The Evansville center fielder immediately stole second, moved to third on a groundout and came into score on Pierce’s second base hit of the day to make it a 4-1 game. Down to their final three outs and down three, Mississippi’s offense opted to make things interesting against Junior Cerda who took the hill looking for the save to lock down the victory and series win for Evansville. Cerda served up back-to-back singles by Brayland Skinner and Kasten Furr to make it runners on the corners before Kyle Booker connected on a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit in half 4-2. Fritz picked up a two-out single up the middle for his second hit of the day to put Furr on third. Semo followed up by reaching on an error to bring home Furr and making it a one-run ball game.With everything seemingly going Mississippi’s way, Cerda was able to get a strikeout with the tying run 90 feet away to end the game with a 4-3 final in favor of Evansville.The Mud Monsters have dropped five straight games for the first time in their history and will look to regroup on Sunday to avoid their second straight series sweep.The Mud Monsters wrap up their three-game road series against the Otters tomorrow evening. Right-hander Brian Williams (0-5, 6.75) gets the start for Mississippi. Right-hander Ben Petschke (2-1, 5.30) starts for Evansville. First pitch is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. CT.
About the Mississippi Mud Monsters 
Baseball Lives Here. It Just Got a Little Weirder.The Mississippi Mud Monsters are a professional baseball team based in Pearl, Mississippi, competing in the Frontier League. Built in the mud and rooted in Mississippi, the Mud Monsters believe baseball should be unapologetically fun, a little weird, wildly welcoming, and deeply tied to the place it calls home. Real baseball. Real people. This is swamp-built, Mississippi-made baseball, where the vibes matter just as much as the final score.