Hillsboro, OR (July 24, 2026)- For the second consecutive night, Hillsboro erased any doubt with an eighth-inning three-run home run, this time off the bat of Avery Owusu-Asiedu, as the Hops defeated the Vancouver Canadians 8-4 Friday night at Hops Ballpark. The victory evened the six-game series at two games apiece heading into the weekend. Kayson Cunningham also hit his first home run at the new Hops Ballpark in the first inning.
The Hops had built an early lead thanks to the long ball as well. Cunningham launched a two-run homer in the first inning, his second of the season, before Owusu-Asiedu singled home Brady Counsell and Jakey Josepha added an RBI single in the second to make it 4
Vancouver threatened all night but repeatedly came away empty. The Canadians put runners in scoring position in each of the first five innings and loaded the bases in the fourth, yet managed just two runs through five innings. Vancouver finished the night 3-for-16 with runners in scoring position and stranded 13 baserunners.
Rio Britton worked around constant traffic in his 4.1 innings, allowing two runs despite issuing six walks. He escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fourth and left after Alexis Hernandez's RBI single in the fifth cut the lead to 4-2.
Teofilo Mendez (1-1) took over and limited the damage despite allowing an inherited runner to score in the seventh. Eric Snow lined into an inning-ending double play before Hernandez later scored on a single and an outfield error to trim Hillsboro's lead to 4-3.
After a scoreless seventh from Wissinger, Hillsboro's offense finally broke through again in the eighth. Cunningham started the rally with a double before Dix dropped a bunt single. Kenny Castillo lined an RBI single to right to make it 5-3, setting the stage for Owusu-Asiedu's decisive three-run blast. Owusu-Asiedu's ninth homer of the season highlighted a four-run eighth inning and capped a four-RBI night. With Kayson Cunningham and JD Dix aboard, Owusu-Asiedu drove a Reece Wissinger offering into the right-center field bullpen to turn a three-run game into an 8-3 Hillsboro advantage.
Tayler Montiel closed out the final 2.1 innings for his second save despite Vancouver making one final push in the ninth. The Canadians loaded the bases and scored once on Maddox Latta's RBI single before Montiel struck out Mathieu Vallee to end the game.
Owusu-Asiedu finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored and four RBIs, while Cunningham went 2-for-4 with a homer, double and two RBIs. Castillo added two hits and an RBI as Hillsboro collected nine hits and went 5-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
Hernandez led Vancouver with three hits, while Ryan Sprock added two, including multiple dazzling defensive plays. Despite drawing 10 walks and putting runners in scoring position throughout the night, the Canadians couldn't capitalize enough to overcome Hillsboro's timely hitting.
With the win, the Hops improved to an even 2-2 split in the series as the clubs head into the final two games of the weekend at Hops Ballpark. Game five of the series is tomorrow at Hops Ballpark, first pitch at 5:03 pm.