Double The Pleasure! Hops Tee Off On Tribe

SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. -- The Hillsboro Hops had the Spokane Indians seeing double Wednesday night as the Northwest League first-half playoff race got even tighter.

The Hops (26-25) collected a season-high 17 hits, 10 of which went for extra bases in an 11-2 win over the Indians (27-22) at Avista Stadium. The win moved Hillsboro to within two games of first with two weeks remaining before the first-half cutoff. Hillsboro also picked up a game on Eugene and now trails the second-place Emeralds by a single game.

It was the most impressive offensive outburst of the season for a team that has faced a fair share of challenges scoring runs. Hillsboro never trailed after plating three runs in the third inning, supporting another strong effort from a starting pitcher.

Joe Elbis (3-1) departed with two outs in the eighth inning after allowing seven hits and a single run with five strikeouts and two bases on balls. It was a career-long outing for the 21-year-old righthander, eclipsing the 7 1/3 innings he threw against Vancouver two starts ago. Elbis pitched into the sixth inning for the fifth consecutive start and has not allowed more than one run in his last six outings.

One night after hitting five doubles in an 8-6 win, Hillsboro smacked eight two-baggers to go with a triiple and a homer. The latter two came off the bat of Gavin Conticello, who drove in three runs and scored twice. Andrew Pintar and Christian Cerda each had three hits, two doubles, two runs scored and a run batted in. Jack Hurley added a pair of doubles and two RBI and Jose Fernandez finished with three hits, all singles, and a run scored.

Spokane starting pitcher Mason Green (4-3) departed after allowing a leadoff Fernandez single and a Pintar RBI double to start the fifth inning. Sergio Sanchez came in and got ahead of Conticello 0-2 before serving up the 6-4 Floridian's fifth home run of the season and first since April. That two-run bomb off the Avista Stadium scoreboard in right center field gave Hillsboro a 6-1 lead.

The Hops added single runs in the sixth and seventh innings then piled on three more runs in the ninth, opening the inning with four consecutive hits, including three more doubles.

Spokane threatened in the first inning after Elbis walked leaoff batter Cole Carrigg on four pitches and Dyan Jorge blooped a hit-and-run single to right, putting runners at first and third with none out. But Elbis fanned Jake Snider looking before coaxing an inning-ending double-play from Kyle Karros' bat.

The Tribe plated their only run in the fourth inning on, what else, a pair of doubles. Snider led off with a double to left center. Two outs later, Juan Guerrero hit a ball off the base of the short porch in right, the second of his three doubles on the night. Altogether, the teams combined for a dozen doubles.

Eight different Hops had a hit and eight different Hops either scored or drove in a run as Hillsboro improved to 7-1 against Spokane this season. The Hops have a winning record (13-6) against the two teams directly in front of them in the race for first place.

It will be a marquee pitching matchup in game three of the series Thursday as Spencer Giesting, the NWL leader in ERA, WHIP and opponent's batting average takes on Wake Forest second-rounder Sean Sullivan, who has the top strikeout-walk ratio in the league. Pregame airtime is at 6:20 p.m. with first pitch at 6:35 p.m. on Rip City Radio 620 AM.