The Eugene Emeralds beat the Tri-City Dust Devils 3-2 on Friday at Gesa Stadium. The game was a pitching duel, with the Emeralds scratching out a run in the top of the ninth and barely holding on to win it. The victory ends their two-game skid and ties their six-game series with the Dust Devils at two games apiece.

The Emeralds’ offense struck first in the second inning. Diego Rincones walked, and Ismael Munguia and Jacob Gonzalez hit back-to-back singles to give Eugene a 1-0 lead.

Conner Nurse took the hill for the Emeralds. He got into a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the bottom of the second, but recorded two strikeouts to escape trouble and hold the one-run advantage.

The Dust Devils homered on the first pitch of the bottom of the third against Nurse, tying the game at one apiece. A triple and a sacrifice fly put Tri-City ahead 2-1.

Nurse pitched five innings, striking out five while allowing three hits and walking three. The Emeralds struggled against Tri-City starter Davis Daniel, who allowed just one run while striking out six in six innings.

With Daniel out of the game, Eugene tied it in the seventh. Brandon Martorano led off with a single, and Ismael Munguia hit a sacrifice bunt that was thrown away and allowed him to reach on the error. Simon Whiteman drove in the game-tying run with a sharp comebacker to the pitcher.

Logan Wyatt picked up his first double of the year in the eighth and advanced to third on an error, but was stranded to keep the game tied.

Will Wilson made his first error of the year in the bottom of the eighth, but made a smooth play to finish the inning and send it to the ninth.

Martorano led off the ninth with a triple, yelling and screaming toward the Emeralds’ dugout as he reached third base standing. Munguia followed with a four-pitch walk, and Gonzalez was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs.

Simon Whiteman and Tyler Fitzgerald struck out, putting the Emeralds in danger of not scoring. But with Patrick Bailey at the plate, a wild pitch allowed Martorano to come home with the go-ahead run. Later in the at-bat, Munguia attempted to score from third but was easily tagged out. The Emeralds went to the bottom of the ninth with a 3-2 lead, despite wasting a chance to score more.

Jose Marte came in for the save, and his first pitch hit the leadoff batter. The next batter also appeared to get hit, but was called back after it was ruled that he offered at the pitch, much to the dismay of Tri-City manager Vinny Lopez. The batter ended up striking out.

Marte induced a ground ball that looked like it would be a routine game-ending double play, but it ate up Wilson, bouncing off the lip of his glove the same way it did in his error earlier in the game. This put the winning run on base and the tying run in scoring position.

Marte hunkered down, striking out the final two batters as the Emeralds squeaked away with a 3-2 victory. The win ties the six-game series at two apiece and ends Eugene’s two-game losing streak.

The Emeralds (10-6) and Dust Devils (5-11) will play Game 5 of their six-game series on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.