Though the Eugene Emeralds held an early 2-0 after the first inning, it was all Hillsboro Hops for the final eight innings as they won 8-2 Tuesday at PK Park Tuesday evening.
In the first inning Chris Pieters hit a two run homerun to give Eugene a 2-0 lead. After that, though, the Emeralds were kept scoreless, missing out on a chance to clinch the first half title in the Northwest League South Division.
Eugene starting pitcher Bryan Hudson managed to maintain the lead through the third inning, as the Hops only scored once during the second when Luis Veras scored after drawing a walk and stealing second and third.
Walks quickly became a common theme during the game for the Hillsboro batters; Hudson walked six, and in total, Eugene pitchers walked 17 batters, which was close to the team record of 22.
It all went downhill from there for Eugene. During the fourth inning, the bases were loaded with the Hops’ Veras, Manny Jefferson, and Marcus Wilson on third, second and first base, respectively. Luis Silverio then hit a bases-clearing double to give the Hops a 4-2 lead.
The Ems switched pitchers in the top of the fifth to Andin Diaz, though this brought little success. Again, the Hops loaded the bases before former University of Oregon shortstop Mark Karaviotis scored two more runs with a single to extend the lead to 6-2.
The Emeralds switched their pitcher again in the next inning to Enrique De Los Rios, while the Hops scored again in a similar way. The bases were loaded once again after three players walked. Luis Veras then hit a sacrifice fly, which was caught by left fielder Kevonte Mitchell, allowing Hernandez to score.
Though the bases were loaded, no one else scored during that inning. Lowery was thrown out at home after Garcia caught Karaviotis’s hit in the outfield and threw it to catcher Tyler Payne.
Hillsboro would score again in the ninth inning. With Jefferson on third, Wilson on second and Silverio on first, Hernandez hit another sacrifice fly to increase the lead to 8-2.
The Emeralds will get a rematch and another chance to clinch the Wednesday evening at PK Park.
Follow Hannah Bonnie on Twitter @hbonnie03