10/22/2011-The Evansville Otters started building their team for 2012 with the acquisition of right-handed pitcher Brian Hobbs on Thursday afternoon. The reliever comes to Evansville in a trade with the Alpine Cowboys of the Pecos League for a player to be named later.

Hobbs, the 41st round draft pick of the Los Angeles Angels in 2006, played college baseball at Chipola College and the University of South Florida, where he was a position player.

Hobbs made the transition to pitching this season with Alpine, striking out 34 batters in 23 1/3 innings pitched. Hobbs finished the year 1-2 for the Cowboys, collecting four saves and maintaining an earned run average of 1.93 .

The Evansville Otters begin the 2012 season at home on Friday, May 18th against the Washington Wild Things. First pitch on Opening Day is tentatively scheduled for 6:35 p.m. CDT at Historic Bosse Field.