The Eugene Emeralds were in dire need of a clutch hit against the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes. After falling in 14-innings 5-4 the night before, Emeralds left fielder Marcus Davis  — who hadn’t gotten a hit all evening  — stepped to the plate in the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded and the game tied at one.

“It was the right guy in the right spot,” Eugene manager Rob Wine said following the game.

Davis didn’t get the big hit, however his walk-off walk against Volcanoes reliever Steven Neff gave Eugene a 2-1 victory — breaking the Volcanoes’ 14 game-winning streak against the Emeralds.

“I found out about that today, so it was two in my book,” Wine, in his first year as Eugene’s manager, said about the losing streak. “It was nice, especially in the way that we did it. It’s good for the guys.”

For the second game in a row, Salem-Keizer got on the scoreboard first.

To lead off the top of the third inning, Volcanoes third baseman Will Callaway hit a sinking line drive to center field off of Emeralds’ starting pitcher Adrian De Horta. Eugene’s Yale Rosen — who was playing his first game in center — raced in and dove for the line drive, however the ball landed way in front of Rosen’s diving effort and it skipped to the wall in center field. Callaway raced around the bases and scored for an inside-the-park home run to give the Volcanoes a 1-0 lead.

“That’s on me,” Wine said about Rosen playing in center field, “but that’s what we wanted him to do tonight.”

Volcanoes starting pitcher Andrew Leenhouts entered the game with a 4.76 ERA, but had complete control of the Eugene lineup for the first five innings. In that span, Leenhouts had a perfect game and recorded seven strikeouts. He finished his evening with 11 strikeouts and just two hits.

“Everything you’d tell a pitcher you want him to do, he did it,” Wine said.

Leenhouts’ bid for a perfect game was snapped in the bottom of the sixth.

With the wind blowing out to right field, Eugene first baseman Trae Santos launched a deep foul ball that cleared the fence in right. Two pitches later, Santos kept the ball in fair territory, hitting a home run to right-center field to tie the game at one.

While Leenhouts was dominant for the Volcanoes, the Eugene pitching staff matched him stride-for-stride. Emeralds’ starting pitcher Adrian De Horta and relievers Wilson Santos, Chris Huffman and Max beatty allowed just four hits on the evening, giving the Emeralds offense a chance to win the game in the bottom of the ninth.

“What they’re doing currently is very impressive,” Wine said about his pitching staff.

After avoiding a sweep at the hands of the Volcanoes tonight, the Emeralds will now welcome the Spokane Indians for a six game home stand — a double-header between the Indians and Emeralds will be played on Monday. Getting the victory and tonight and entering the long series with the Indians on a high note was a necessity for Eugene.

“We’ve been working on a lot,” Davis said after the game. “Just trying to put together some good at bats and sticking with the process. I think it’s starting to come around for us.”

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University of Arizona women’s basketball assistant coach Calamity McEntire approached head coach Niya Butts with an idea.

After seeing cold water challenges sweeping the different social media outlets, McEntire thought it would be a good idea to challenge the different coaches around the Pac-12 to see if they would do it.

Butts then proposed that they package the challenge with a monetary value. If the challenge wasn’t met by a coach, they would have to donate money to the Kay Yow Foundation for the fight against women’s cancer. If an athlete failed to meet the challenge, they would have to do five community service hours. In just 13 days, the Chillin4Charity project has spread all across the country including to the University of Oregon.

Butts caught up with the Emerald earlier this week to talk about the success of the project.

Do you have a count on the money raised and the community service hours totaled up to this point?

“We don’t know right now. It’s just happening so fast we don’t have a count yet. At the end of it all, when it all kind of slows down or stops or whatever is going to happen with it, we’ll total it then. I certainly feel that if everyone commits to their promise of doing the challenge, I think it’ll be a pretty good outcome for the Kay Yow Foundation.”

Did you foresee Chillin4Charity taking off like it has?

“Honestly, I didn’t. I can’t even say I did. I thought hopefully a couple coaches would go with it, but I had no idea that it would now cross over to softball, cross over to football, the WNBA. I know a couple NBA guys were called out. I don’t know if they’ve faced the challenge yet, but it’s been this very big wildfire that happens to be cold.”

Was it hot outside when you first recorded the video? Was it refreshing at all?

“It was warm, I mean this is Arizona. We filmed it in the morning, but it was still warm outside. I don’t care how hot it is — wherever you are — it doesn’t matter. That water is so cold, it’s going to take your breath away. You can say what you want, but it’s cold.”

Have you talked with any other coaches or players across the country about this project?

“The coaching community has been great on Twitter, on Facebook. Some people will even say in their video, ‘Thank you to Arizona basketball for starting this,” or what have you. The response has been great and everyone’s support has been outstanding and we appreciate it dearly.”

Do you think that because it’s for the Kay Yow foundation and almost everyone has been affected by cancer in some way, that might be the reason why it’s spread so fast?

“Absolutely. Cancer affects all of us. In one way or another we all know someone who has had cancer or who has been affected by it.”

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Salem-Keizer catcher Fernando Pujadas sure picked a good time for his first hit of the game.

In the top of the 14th inning, Pujadas took a 2-1 fastball from Emeralds reliever Corey Bostjanic and sent it deep over the left field wall to give the Volcanoes a 5-4 win.

The Volcanoes finished their offensive attack the way it started.

Volcanoes left fielder Craig Massoni hit a towering three-run home run to left field off of Emeralds starting pitcher Tony Wieber that gave Salem-Keizer the early lead.

In a game that stretches 14 innings, every runner is crucial. Earlier in the inning with a runner on first, Volcanoes shortstop Christian Arroyo hit a slow dribbler to Wieber who fielded the ball and elected to throw to second. However, his throw wasn’t in time. Both runners eventually scored on the home run by Massoni.

“People look at the end of the game, but it’s a lot of the little things at the beginning of the game that cause a game to be like that,” Emeralds manager Rob Wine said after the game. “That’s the way this game is.”

In the bottom of the inning, Eugene responded with a home run of its own, a two-run opposite field shot blast by shortstop Franchy Cordero to bring the Emeralds within one run.

After the Volcanoes struck for their fourth run of the game against Wieber, the Emeralds went to work against Salem-Keizer starting pitcher Jason Forjet in the bottom half of the fourth. With runners on first and third and one out, Jose Urena hit a line drive double over the head of Hollick to bring home Marcus Davis and send Trae Santos to third. Jose Ruiz brought home Santos with an RBI groundout to tie the game at four.

The Emeralds missed a major opportunity to take the lead with one out in the bottom of the eighth. After Corder stole second, Davis grounded to Volcanoes reliever Armando Paniaqua who threw ahead of Cordero racing for third. A pickle ensued and Cordero avoided the tag and advanced to third while Davis sneakily made his way to second base. However, a groundout and a strikeout later and the Volcanoes escaped the inning unscathed.

In the bottom of the 12th, Urena led off with a single — the first hit by either team since Arroyo singled up the middle in the top of the seventh.

Trailing 5-4 — following the home run blast from Pujadas — the Emeralds got the tying run in scoring position against Volcanoes reliever Dusten Knight. However, Chase Jensen struck-out to end the ballgame.

Eugene used seven pitchers tonight over the course of 14 innings. Even with all the work, Wine insists that his bullpen is ok for the remainder of the series and the homestand.

“We’re set,” Wine said. “I think at this point we’re building pitchers. Everybody went out and did their job and gave us a couple innings when they needed it. If you had to script out 14 innings, that’s what you would do and that’s what they gave us. We’re ok for tomorrow.”

The Emeralds and Volcanoes will square off for game the final game of the series tomorrow night. The Emeralds will send Adrian De Horta who is 0-1 on the season with a 4.05 ERA. Lefty Andrew Leenhouts will start for Salem-Keizer. Leenhouts is 1-1 thus far with a 4.76 ERA.

Noteworthy:

– Eugene starting pitcher Tony Wieber and Salem-Keizer designated hitter Ryan Jones were teammates at Michigan State. Jones went 0-for-2 against Wieber on the night.

– Cory Spangenberg started at second base for the Emeralds on a rehabilitation assignment. The San Antonio Missions prospect went 1-for-5 with an infield single in the bottom of the first.

– The Emeralds and Volcanoes broke the Northwest League History for most strikeouts in a single game between two teams with 42. The previous league record was 37.

 Follow Joseph Hoyt on Twitter @jhoyt42

In the final game of a five-game road series, the Eugene Emeralds fell to the Tri-City Dust devils by a final score of 1-0.

The lone run of the game came in the bottom of the first. With one out and a runner on on third, Emeralds starting pitcher sent a wild pitch past catcher Miguel Del Castillo. Tri-City center fielder Marcos Derkes took advantage of the past ball and scored to give the Dust Devils an 1-0 early lead.

Despite the loss, the Emeralds got a solid outing from Kelly. Over five innings pitched, Kelly gave up only one hit, had two walks and struck out four Dust Devils.

Tri-City starting pitcher Blake Shouse matched Kelly stride-for-stride. Shouse allowed just four Eugene hitters to reach base all evening.

After losing the series in Tri-City, the Emeralds will return to Eugene for an eight-game homestand. Eugene will start that  home stretch with a game against the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes.

First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.

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– When Thursday’s NBA Draft rolls around, former Oregon forward Mike Moser will be one of the many draft-eligible players hoping to get selected by a professional team. Moser, who made stops at UCLA and University of Nevada-Las Vegas before spending his final year in Eugene, has worked out with a plethora of teams. GoDucks editor-in-chief Rob Moseley compiled a list of quotes from scouts regarding Moser’s professional potential.

– Oregon picked up a verbal commitment from four-star wide receiver Alex Ofodile on Tuesday. According to 247Sports, Ofodile is the No. 1 ranked player in the state of Missouri for the 2015 class. fodile is the ninth commitment that the Ducks have gotten for 2015.

– On Tuesday, attorneys for Damyean Dotson, Dominic Artis and Brandon Austin — the three former Oregon men’s basketball players who were suspended from the university for at least four years — released a statement entitled “Several Inconvenient Truths” to the Emerald.

– In response to the statement from the three former Oregon basketball players, John Clune — the attorney for the survivor of the alleged sexual assault by Dotson, Artis and Austin — responded with a statement of his own.

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Last year for the Eugene Emeralds, Chase Jensen had one home run in 117 at bats. In his second stint with Eugene, it only took Jensen two trips to the plate to clear the fence.

On a rehab assignment with the Emeralds, Jensen, who normally suits up for the Fort Wayne Tin Caps, launched a three-run home run in the top of the sixth that gave the Emeralds a lead over the Tri-City Dust Devils for good. Eugene beat Tri-City by a final score of 8-7.

The Emeralds got on the scoreboard in the top of the second. After Jose Carlos Urena doubled to start off the frame, Yale Rosen followed suit and doubled to bring home Urena. Later in the inning, Felipe Blanco grounded out to bring Rosen home to give the Emeralds a 2-0 lead. Tri-City bounced back in the bottom of the inning with two runs to tie the game.

With a one run lead in the bottom of the fourth, Dust Devils second baseman Sam Bumpers tripled home Shane Hoelscher and Jairo Rosario to give Tri-City a 5-2 lead.

In the top of the fifth, Rosen stepped to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded. Rosen hit a bases clearing double to left field to even the game at five.

After Jensen hit a three home run in the sixth, the Dust Devils rallied for two runs in the bottom of the seventh, but the Eugene lead proved to be insurmountable.

The Emeralds will finish the away series with Tri-City with the rubber match game tomorrow. First pitch is set for 7:15 p.m.

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After taking an unofficial visit to the University of Oregon on Friday, four-star wide receiver Alex Ofodile committed to the Ducks on Tuesday.

Officially an Oregon duck!! It's a blessing words can't describe my excitement to join the program. Thanks to all who supported me

— Alex Ofodile (@alexofodile4) June 24, 2014

Ofodile, a 6-foot-3 wide receiver out of Rock Bridge high school in Columbia, Missouri, is the 12th best wide receiver in the nation, and the No. 1 player in the state of Missouri, according to Rivals. Mihir Bhagat, a sports anchor for KOMO-TV, was the first to report on Ofodile’s commitment.

BREAKING: Alex Ofodile told me he's verbally committed to The University of Oregon

— Mihir Bhagat (@MihirBhagat) June 24, 2014

“It was a great fit,” Ofodile told Bhagat. “They’re in the national championship hunt every year and I think I can get on the field early.”

Ofodile becomes the ninth commitment in the 2015 recruiting class for head coach Mark Helfrich and Oregon, and the fourth in the past week.

Follow Joseph Hoyt on Twitter @jhoyt42