May 13 (Hillsboro, OR)- The Hillsboro Hops evened the series at 1-1 against the Spokane Indians on Wednesday night with a 6-2 win. The Hops pitching staff combined to strike out 13 batters. Offensively, six runs on 12 hits were enough to seal the win over Spokane.
Trent Youngblood started things off with a single to left field, stealing second base right after reaching. Kenny Castillo capitalized on a runner in scoring position, hitting an RBI single to score the first run.
Hops’ starter Rio Britton went three up, three down in the first two innings, striking out three of the batters he faced. Britton walked three runners in the top of the third to load the bases, but escaped the jam unscathed.
In the bottom of the second, a throwing error by Ethan Hedges put Modeifi Marte on first. Adrian Rodriguez and Slade Caldwell both singled, Caldwell bringing in both runs to extend Hillsboro’s lead 3-0.
The Indians scored their first runs of the game in the fourth, with both Kevin Fitzer and Tommy Hopfe hitting singles. Robert Calaz drove both runs in with an RBI double, making it 3-2.
Yerald Nin doubled, advancing to third on a fly-out from Avery Owusu-Asiedu. A fielder’s choice hit by Brady Counsell scored Nin to make it 4-2 in the fifth. Owusu-Asiedu lined one to center field to reach base in the bottom of the seventh, and was driven in by Marte to put the Hops up 5-2. In the eighth, Caldwell doubled and advanced to third on a balk. He was driven in by a sacrifice fly from Yassel Soler, capping the scoring at 6-2.
Britton threw four innings, striking out six, and allowing two earned runs on three hits. Joangel Gonzalez, credited with the win, went two innings, struck out three, and allowed just one hit. Adonys Perez pitched a scoreless inning, and Sawyer Hawks came in as the closer, throwing two innings and striking out four to close the door on Spokane.
Game three of the series will start at 6:35 PM on Thursday, May 14th. The pregame show will start at 6:20 PM on 620 AM RipCity Radio and BallyLive.