EUGENE, ORE. (Sept. 3, 2026) --- The calendar changes each year. The players change as they cycle through the Diamondbacks’ and Giants’ systems. But one thing remains constant: the Eugene Emeralds have the Hillsboro Hops’ number.
On Thursday night, the Hops led 6-0 heading into the bottom of the eighth, and had a chance to take two out of three in Eugene and secure their first series win at P.K. Park since 2019. But relievers Joangel Gonzalez and Rocco Reid struggled, combining for five walks in the eighth. When the inning was over, Eugene had sent 13 batters to the plate and scored seven runs. And when Hillsboro went 1-2-3 in the top of the ninth, it was over. Eugene’s 7-6 win improved their record to 20-7 against the Hops in 2026, 14-4 at home. Since the Northwest League went to a long-season format in 2021, Eugene is 97-63 against Hillsboro, 57-24 in Eugene.
The stunning comeback denied righthander Dean Livingston his first win in a Hops uniform. Livingston—at age 19, one of the younger pitchers in the league—used his mid-90s sinker to toss five shutout innings, allowing just three hits and no walks and striking out five. The odds-on favorite to be Hillsboro’s Opening Day starter in 2027, Livingston has allowed just one run over 10 innings in his two High-A starts since being promoted from Low-A Visalia.
The Hops broke through in the top of the fifth to score the game’s first run against Eugene starter Jordan Gottesman. Wallace Clark doubled, Adrian Rodriguez sacrificed him to third base, and Yerald Nin had a run-scoring ground-out.
Three more Hops crossed the plate in the sixth against reliever Alix Hernandez. With one out, Yassel Soler singled, Chris Katz doubled, and Abdias De La Cruz walked to load the bases. Clark hit a chopper to third to bring home Soler, and when Walker Martin’s throw to first glanced off the glove of Hayden Jatczak, Katz also scored. (It was Martin’s third error of the game at third base, though this one could just as easily have been given to Jatczak.) Rodriguez followed with a sacrifice fly to bring home De La Cruz.
Single runs in the seventh (on a Katz RBI single) and eighth (on a home run by Clark) made it 6-0, and the Hops were six outs away from taking two of three in Eugene.
Then came the ill-fated bottom of the eighth. Gonzalez came into the game to replace lefty Luke Dotson, who had worked two scoreless innings in relief of Livingston. Gonzalez struck out the first batter he faced, Charlie Muniz, but catcher Carlos Virahonda was unable to corral Gonzalez’s slider on strike three, and the ball went to the backstop. Muniz was at first on a wild pitch. That seemed to un-nerve Gonzalez. Jose Ramos pulled a scorching line drive, and Hops left fielder Jose Mejia made a sliding catch. Leadoff batter Damian Bravo fell behind 1-2, but drew a walk. Cam Maldonado hit a three-run home run to cut the deficit in half and make it 6-3.
Home runs can sometimes be rally killers, but not this time. Kaeden Kent reignited the rally with a single to left, and any observer could see the snowball building on Gonzalez. Dalton Wentz walked on four pitches, and Walker Martin walked on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases. Jatczak then hit a fly ball to center field. After a long run, Nin had the ball in his glove… and dropped it. One run scored on the sacrifice fly and error, but Hillsboro should have had two outs in the inning.
It was now 6-4, with the bases still loaded and one away. Reid, a left-hander, was summoned from the bullpen, and allowed an RBI single to right by Robert Hipwell to make it 6-5.
Reid then fell behind Muniz 3-0, and was a pitch away from forcing home the tying run, but he battled back to strike Muniz out. The count went to 0-1 on the number-nine hitter, Ramos, and it looked as though the Hops may somehow get out of the inning with the lead still intact.
No. The next four pitches missed, forcing home the tying run. And when the next four pitches missed to Bravo, the go-ahead run was home. When Reid struck out Maldonado to end the inning, the gory details included 13 batters to the plate, just three hits, five walks, a wild pitch, and seven runs home.
Righty Cole Hillier retired the Hops in order in the ninth to pick up his first save.
The Hops (30-33 in the second half, 62-67 overall) had been eliminated from the playoff race on Tuesday, and they now come home to face Eugene for the final three games of the season. The weekend will be a celebration of the Hops’ first season in their new park, by all accounts one of the best in professional baseball.
And despite their pedestrian record, the Hops have featured the youngest core of prospects in the Northwest League, some of whom figure to make an impact on the major leagues. In fact, 16 of the 30 players listed in the Diamondbacks’ Top 30 prospects by MLBpipeline.com have played for the Hops at some point in 2026, many of them for most or all of the season. A good portion of those players are still well below the average age of players at the High-A level, and will likely be back in Hillsboro to start 2027. That year of experience is likely to translate into more wins next season.
Friday’s game begins at 6:35, Saturday’s at 5:03, and Sunday’s finale at 1:05. Friday’s pregame show begins at 6:20PM on Rip City Radio 620AM and www.RipCityRadio.com. The streaming telecast begins at 6:30 on the Bally Sports Live app and MLB.TV.