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Sens' Stevenson on historic roll at the plate

Nationals No. 5 prospect compiles second straight five-hit game
Andrew Stevenson shares the Eastern League lead with 21 hits and ranks fifth with a .500 on-base percentage. (Patrick Cavey/MiLB.com)
April 18, 2017

Andrew Stevenson has never, at any level, had a pair of games like this.The Nationals' No. 5 prospect went 5-for-5 on Tuesday to complete his second straight five-hit performance as Double-A Harrisburg defeated Hartford, 9-2, at Dunkin' Donuts Park. The Senators outfielder is 10-for-12 in his last two games.

Andrew Stevenson has never, at any level, had a pair of games like this.
The Nationals' No. 5 prospect went 5-for-5 on Tuesday to complete his second straight five-hit performance as Double-A Harrisburg defeated Hartford, 9-2, at Dunkin' Donuts Park. The Senators outfielder is 10-for-12 in his last two games.

Box score
"I've never had two games where I had 10 hits," Stevenson said. "But it's a fun experience.
"You go up there with a certain level of confidence. You feel like, if I get my pitch, I'm going to do something with it."
The 2015 second-round pick ripped a single up the middle in the first inning, bunted for a hit in the third and cracked a ground-rule double to left in the fourth. After driving in a pair of runs with a single to right in the fifth, he capped his night by lining a double to left in the eighth.

Stevenson became the first player in modern Harrisburg history -- which dates back to 1987 -- to produce consecutive five-hit games. Among big leaguers, only Hi Myers with the 1917 Brooklyn Robins and Roberto Clemente with the 1970 Pirates have accomplished the feat.
"That's pretty cool, when you're throwing out those names," the Louisiana native said. "But I'm just trying to take it one day at a time. It's a long season, so I'm not going to get too high on the last couple of performances. I'm just trying to keep it steady throughout the season."
The last two games have hardly been an anomaly for Stevenson, who has racked up multiple hits in seven of his first 11 games en route to a .447 average that ranks second in the Eastern League behind New Hampshire's Anthony Alford (.514).

"Being the leadoff hitter, you want to try and get on base any way you can," the LSU product said. "If you're getting a few hits a game, that definitely helps out. I'm just trying to go up there and get on base any way I can."
Stevenson's teammates have taken notice, making him the target of some good-natured ribbing after Tuesday's game.
"They're just trying to rub off on me, maybe steal some hits from me," he said with a laugh.
The Senators face the Yard Goats again on Wednesday, but Stevenson laughed off the idea of going for a third straight five-hit game.
"I'm just going to go out there and take what they give me," the 22-year-old outfielder said. "They've got a good guy on the mound throwing tomorrow, so I'm just going to have to take every at-bat and battle."
Batting behind Stevenson, Mario Lisson homered, singled and drove in four runs for Harrisburg.
Senators starter Jaron Long (2-1) got the win after giving up one run on five hits and a walk while striking out five over seven innings.
Jack Wynkoop (1-2) was roughed up for nine runs on 13 hits and a walk with one strikeout over five innings for Hartford.

Alex Kraft is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow and chat with him on Twitter @Alex_Kraft21.