More 8th Inning Drama, Hops Prevail In 10th

Through two games of Hillsboro's series at Eugene, it seems as if half the game time has been spent in the eighth inning alone.

A scoreless tie until both teams scored two runs in the eighth Wednesday night, the Hops (7-10) scored a run in the 10th to record their second extra-inning win of the season, defeating the Emeralds 3-2 at P.K. Park.

With ghost runner Kevin Sim at third base following a Manny Pena grounder to the right side, number nine hitter Jean Walters hit a bounding single up the middle against the drawn-in Eugene infield to give the Hops the lead in the 10th.

Eugene (13-4) loaded the bases in the 10th on a pair of Listher Sosa walks, but Sosa (1-0) got Thomas Gavello to ground out harmlessly to first base to end the contest.

For the second night in the series, Hillsboro got a brilliant pitching performance from a starter. Spencer Giesting pounded the strike zone, rarely reaching a two-ball count. The lefty from Hamilton, Ohio fanned five Eugene batters and walked only one over six, one-hit shutout innings before giving way to Carlos Meza in the seventh.

Meza, who spent most of 2023 with the Hops, but has struggled at AA Amarillo, ran into immediate trouble in his 2024 Northwest League debut. After Onil Perez singled to lead off the inning, the southpaw issued a pair of one-out walks before fanning Gavello for the second out of the inning. In came Eli Saul with the bases loaded and the 6-5 Canadian preserved the scoreless tie by retiring Josh Wishkoski on a fielder's choice to short.

The Hops finally got on the board in their half of the eighth inning. A four pitch Daniel Blair walk put Walters aboard, then a bunt single by Andrew Pintar put runners at the corners when Wishkoski's throw got past first baseman Zach Morgan for an error. Walters raced home on a wild pitch. Another wild one moved Pintar to third before Jose Fernandez plated the Hops leadoff batter with a sacrifice fly to center.

Fernandez had made a spectacular defensive play to keep Eugene off the board in the third inning. In the Emeralds only scoring threat against Giesting, Wishkoski was at third base with two outs when Diego Velasquez hit a scorching one-hop liner to the Hillsboro shortstop's left. Fernandez made a diving, full-extension snare, popped up and fired to first in time to get him. Wishkoski had the only hit off Giesting, who allowed just two baserunners over his six frames.

Up 2-0 in the eighth for the second night in a row, the Hops would see the lead disappear once again. Tanner O'Tremba hit a blast to the center field fence. Pintar raced back to the wall in a dead sprint, but the ball caromed away as he crashed into the fence and O'Tremba ended up at third base. Following a walk to the leadoff batter Turner Hill, the Emeralds executed a perfect bunt-and-run play with Hill breaking for second on the pitch and O'Tremba charging for home on contact. Walters charged the ball from third, but had no play and with the base unoccupied, Hill raced all the way to third base.

Now with the tying run at third and the go-ahead run at second after a Velasquez stolen base, Saul fanned Perez for the first out of the inning. Zane Russell came out of the pen to replace him and walked cleanup hitter Zach Morgan to load the bases. With a double play possible to get the Hops out of trouble, catcher Christian Cerda tried to pick off Hill at third and threw wide of the mark as Walters got tangled with the runner, sending Hill home to even the score. The Ems would reload the bases on a two-out walk to Quinn McDaniel before Russell got Gavello to ground out to first.

Cam Cotter (2-1) pitched the tenth for Eugene. The undrafted free agent from NC State had allowed just one hit and one walk over five previous appearances. He still has a zero ERA. More impressively, Giesting has yet to allow an earned run this season. The 11th rounder from UNC Charlotte has logged 16 innings over three starts, surrendering a lone unearned run in his season debut at Vancouver in a 2-0 loss. Following his 27th start as a Hop, Giesting has allowed just eight hits and four walks with 15 strikeouts this season.