The Eugene Emeralds defeated the Hillsboro Hops by a final score of 13-1 for the 2nd consecutive ballgame. The Emeralds now have a 2-0 series lead over the Hops and they move back to .500 on the year as their record now sits at 43-43 on the season.
The Emeralds got things started in the first inning in a big way. Grant McCray led the inning off with a walk and Carter Howell followed it up with a walk of his own. Jared Dupere then was able to battle back in a count and draw the third consecutive walk to load up the bases. That brought up Sean Roby to the plate who hit 2 home runs in yesterday’s win. Roby connected with a baseball and drove it out to dead center field for the grandslam. It was a moonshot of a homer as he hit it 462 feet over the batter’s eye in center field. Roby has been incredible this series with 3 home runs and 8 RBI’s in just 2 games.
The first inning didn’t stop there for Eugene. The next batter Adrian Sugastey got plunked in the head with a fastball. He was able to stay in the game but after the inning Max Wright came in for the rest of the game behind the plate. After Sugastey reached base. Aeverson Arteaga stepped into the box with still nobody out. He was able to get a hold of a baseball and drive it over the fence to extend the lead to 6-0 in the 1st with still no outs. The Hops starter Yilber Diaz was
pulled from the game after not recording an out.
The Ems bats wanted to add one more to the tally, and after a couple of outs Ghordy Santos decided to finish off the inning with the 3rd home run as he blasted a solo shot out to right field to make the lead 7-0. It was an incredible start to the ballgame for Eugene, and after posting 13 runs in last night’s win over the Hops the bats picked up right where they left off.
In the 2nd inning the Emeralds added one more run. Jared Dupere singled with one out and was able to swipe second base. Max Wright stepped into the box and ripped a shot through the infield and Dupere came home to score on the play to make the score 8-0. In the 3rd inning the Emeralds were able to reach double-digit marks in the run column. Brett Auerbach led the inning off with a solo home run, his first on the road this year. After Grant McCray walked and Carter Howell doubled, Jared Dupere hit a groundout that scored McCray on the play to make the game 10-0 after the first 3 frames.
In the 5th inning the Hops got their first hit and run of the night as Christian Cerda blasted a solo shot out to left field to cut into the deficit. It was the lone run of the night for the Hops. Ems starter Hayden Birdsong was dominant on the mound in tonight’s victory. He pitched 5 innings and allowed just the 1 hit and the 1 run. He didn’t walk a single batter and struck out 7 en-route to his first victory as an Emerald. The Emeralds ran out 4 relievers over the next four innings and they all did their part. They allowed just 3 combined hits, 2 walks, and struck out 7 batters over those 4 innings of work. It was an all-around effort tonight from the Emeralds pitching staff.
In the 9th inning the Emeralds added 3 more insurance runs. Jared Dupere led the inning off with a walk and Sean Roby hit a single. After Max Wright hit into a double play that put Roby on at third base, Aeverson Arteaga was able to draw a walk. That brought up Luis Toribio who was the lone Emerald without a base hit as he stepped into the box. On a full count pitch Toribio shot a ball to right center field. It’s a deep outfield to right center field so the ball kept rolling as both runners came home to score on the play. Toribio got to third base on a standup triple, his first of the season. With Brett Auerbach in the box the Hops pitcher threw a wild pitch that scored Toribio to give Eugene their 13th and final run of the evening.
It was another dominant effort from the hitters and the pitchers in tonight’s 13-1 victory. They now have won 2 straight to start the series, and they’ll look to keep it rolling as they’ll have a chance to move back above .500 tomorrow. First pitch is set for 7:05 P.M and 2022 first round draft selection Reggie Crawford will be on the bump for the Emeralds.
