Erik Schoenrock had his best outing of the season Monday as he threw seven scoreless innings en route to a 4-0 Emeralds victory. Schoenrock surrendered just one hit, a single to Zach Esquerra with two outs in the top of the fourth inning and kept hitters off-balance all night as he collected a season-high eight strikeouts without allowing a single walk. The win was Schoenrock’s first of the season (1-1) and helped the Emeralds snap a seven-game losing streak.
“It gives us some momentum because we see that when we put things together we’re a good team,” Schoenrock said. “We just [have to] trust our teammates and just hope we keep it going.”
His teammates backed him up both on offense and defense, highlighted by a diving play in the hole at short by Felipe Blanco to take away a base hit and end the top half of the seventh inning.
It wasn’t easy through Schoenrock’s seven innings pitched, though. He plunked Taylor Ratliff with the first pitch of the game and balked with Ratliff on second and two outs, then struck out Esquerra to strike out the side and end the threat. The seven innings were Schoenrock’s longest of the season, breaking his previous high of five, which he reached against the Tri-City Dust Devils on June 21.
Eugene’s bullpen got into some trouble in the eighth when Hillsboro had two runners on with one out, until side-arm righty Adam Cimber came in and shut the door over the final 1.2 innings, earning his first save of the season.
Offensively the Ems were carried by catcher Michael Miller who rapped two doubles, the first in the sixth inning and second in the eighth, allowing first baseman Trae Santos to score from second. Santos added two hits of his own and crossed home plate twice in Monday night’s victory.
The Emerald’s first run of the game came unconventionally, as Wynton Bernard scored on a throwing error by Hops pitcher Ben Eckles (1-2). Santos hit a comeback one hopper to the mound and Eckles fired wide of second base, allowing Bernard to trot home on the error and give Eugene the only run they’d need to get the win.
The Ems missed on several chances with runners in scoring position but capitalized on Hillsboro’s errors and played successful small ball, which is crucial in the vast PK Park. With two runners on and no outs in the eighth, Michael Bass laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third, setting the table for Blanco who drove in Miller with a sac fly to right.
The two teams will resume their series Tuesday night at PK Park where it will be Military Appreciation Night. Six-foot-five left hander Jeffrey Enloe (1-2) is the probable starter for the Emeralds who will look to replicate their game one success.