The Eugene Emeralds were an out away from losing 3-1.
But with one swing of the bat, Carter Aldrete provided some life, tying the game with a shot just over the left field wall. The Emeralds went on to walk off the Hillsboro Hops in the bottom of the 10th on a sacrifice bunt and a throwing error. They piled on top of each other on the field as they took a 2-1 series lead.
Eugene starter Nick Avila worked around two walks to navigate through a scoreless first inning. He allowed a leadoff single in the second, and the run eventually came home on a soft two-out single to put Hillsboro up 1-0.
The Emeralds went up against the 33rd overall pick in 2020, Slade Cecconi, for the fourth time this year. They threatened early, with a single and a hit batsman in the first inning, but Cecconi set down the next seven Emeralds batters.
The red-hot Brett Auerbach got the Emeralds on the board with two outs in the third, hitting a solo shot over the left-center field fence that tied the game at one apiece. The 5-foot-9 slugger has four homers in his last five games.
Avila settled in to hold the 1-1 tie through five innings. After a one-out single and a walk in the sixth, he was taken out. He gave up only one run despite walking five and striking out just one batter. Austin Reich replaced him and recorded two outs to strand a pair of runners in scoring position.
Cecconi kept the Emeralds’ batters off balance all night, aside from the homer by Auerbach. He went seven innings while allowing just the one run and striking out 10 Emeralds.
Reich pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth, but immediately ran into trouble with a leadoff double in the ninth. A one-out single finally broke the tie, bringing in the first run since the bottom of the third. Another double extended the Hops’ lead to 3-1.
Tyler Fitzgerald led off the bottom of the ninth with a single, bringing the tying run to the plate. The next two batters struck out, but then Aldrete stepped up to the plate. He smashed one just beyond the reach of the left fielder’s glove, squeaking it over the wall for a two-run homer that tied the game at 3-3.
It was time for free baseball in Eugene. With a runner starting at second base, Taylor Rashi bunkered down and got through a scoreless 10th inning.
On the third pitch of the bottom of the inning, Ismael Munguia hit a sacrifice bunt to the pitcher. The pitcher tried to get the out at third, but he threw it into left field, allowing Robert Emery to come all the way around to score and walk off the Hops by a score of 4-3.
A mob of Emeralds formed near second base as they flipped the script on what was mostly a lackluster night of offense. They won their second consecutive game, pulling ahead 2-1 in the series.
The Emeralds will go for their third straight win on Friday at 7:05 p.m.
