The Eugene Emeralds won game two of their three game series with the Hillsboro Hops in dramatic fashion when Ronnie Richardson lined a single down the right field line, allowing Marcus Davis to score from third in the home half of the 11th inning at PK Park. The victory was Eugene’s second in a row after losing seven straight contests.

The first six innings were mostly lackluster, but the Ems had plenty of chances to score runs. Instead, six runners were stranded in scoring position and the game remained stagnant at 0-0.

Eugene struck first in the seventh rather unconventionally. With the bases loaded and no outs, Wynton Bernard hit a grounder to the Hops third baseman Jordan Parr who bobbled it and only had time to tag third for the force out, allowing Michael Bass to score the game’s first run.

Hillsboro would answer in the eighth when Ryan Gebhardt blooped a single to center, driving home Yogey Perez-Ramos.

Then things got really interesting.

With two outs in the top of the ninth, Hops outfielder Tyler Linton skied a solo shot into the trees beyond the left-center field fence for his second home run of the season, giving Hillsboro a 2-1 lead.

In the bottom half, Bernard tied the game with a sac fly to right, scoring Bass from third. With the momentum in the Emeralds’ favor, pinch hitter Fabel Filpo was drilled in the elbow. After a discussion, home plate umpire Kirk Struble ruled the ball foul and ordered Filpo back to the batter’s box. He would later strike out swinging, sending the game to extra innings.

“I thought I heard it hit plastic,” said manager Jim Gabella regarding the controversial play. “He had the elbow guard on and Kirk thought it [had] hit the bat. He said he was blocked out and that’s why he asked [field umpire] Jeff [Gorman] and they made the call and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Gabella wasn’t alone. Whether is was Filpo’s elbow guard or the bat the sound was distinct, and what was left of the PK Park crowd groaned in pain for Filpo’s elbow.

“The one good thing was our guys didn’t let it get them down and we still battled and got a win,” Gabella said.

On the mound, the Ems were led by lefty Jeffrey Enloe, who lasted a season-high six innings, scattering three hits and striking out seven along the way.

“He was pitching great,” Gabella said of his starter. “He changed speeds, he did a great job pounding the strike zone, just everything he had to do.”

Gabella called on four relievers to finish what ended up being the final five innings Monday night. Genison Reyes pitched a perfect top of the 11th and earned his first win of the season, improving to 1-1.

Medford, Oregon native Braden Shipley started for Hillsboro and touched 95 mph on the radar gun early on. Making his professional debut, he was pulled after two innings of work. Shipley was the 15th overall pick of June’s MLB Draft.

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.

The Eugene Emeralds (5-12) open their three-game home series against the Hillsboro Hops (4-13) Monday night at PK Park. Both clubs will look to turn things around and gain some ground on Northwest League leading Salem-Keizer Volcanoes (13-4). Neither team has had success recently; the Emeralds will enter the series hoping to snap a seven-game losing skid, and the Hops have dropped each of their last four and seven of eight dating back to June 23rd.

In their first series this season, Hillsboro took two out of three from Eugene, outscoring the Ems 14 to three at Hillsboro Ballpark.

For the Emeralds, southpaw Erik Schoenrock  (0-1) will make his fourth start of the season as he hopes to bounce back after giving up three earned runs in four innings in his last start, a losing effort against Salem-Keizer. Hillsboro’s starting pitcher is to-be-determined.

Monday night is Good Karma Monday at PK Park, as fans will be allowed to pick their own price for a ticket, with half the proceeds going to Dive for a Cure supporting breast cancer awareness.