Eugene Tips Tri-City in Extras
EUGENE - A tightly pitched and low-scoring game between the Tri-City Dust Devils (1-3) and the Eugene Emeralds (2-2) went to an extra inning Wednesday night in the teams’ series opener, with Emeralds 3B Charlie Szykowny’s sacrifice fly handing the visitors a 4-3 defeat at PK Park. Tri-City led 3-2
EUGENE - A tightly pitched and low-scoring game between the Tri-City Dust Devils (1-3) and the Eugene Emeralds (2-2) went to an extra inning Wednesday night in the teams’ series opener, with Emeralds 3B Charlie Szykowny’s sacrifice fly handing the visitors a 4-3 defeat at PK Park.
Tri-City led 3-2 going to the bottom of the 9th inning, but Eugene SS Cole Foster led off the inning by turning around a pitch from reliever A.J. Block (0-1) and sent it over the left field wall to tie the game at 3-3. Block rallied to get the game to the 10th, but the Emeralds walked away with a walk-off win to begin the six-game series.
NOTES
-Tri-City grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the 2nd inning on an RBI single to right by SS Capri Ortiz. 3B Ben Gobbel, who hit three home runs in a series here last May, scored on the play after getting aboard via a leadoff single. Ortiz had a second RBI single in the 6th inning, scoring pinch-runner Caleb Ketchup to tie the game at 2-2. Gobbel then struck again, this time with a double to left in the top of the 7th that scored 1B Ryan Nicholson in the and gave the Dust Devils the 3-2 lead they took to the 9th.
-Starter Carlos Espinosa pitched well in his first outing of 2025, striking out seven while walking one in four innings of work. Outside of a two-run single in the bottom of the 2nd, Espinosa held Eugene at bay. Relievers Jorge Marcheco (1 IP), Leonard Garcia (2 IP) and Sam Ryan (1 IP) combined to throw four scoreless frames behind Espinosa to give Tri-City a chance to take the opener.
-Capri Ortiz (2-5, BB) and Ben Gobbel (2-4, HBP) had multi-hit nights for the Dust Devils. CF Anthony Scull (1-3, BB, 2 HBP) reached base four times to help the Tri-City cause, as did hits from Ryan Nicholson (1-4, 2B), RF Randy De Jesus (1-3, 2 BB) and 2B Adrian Placencia (1-5).
-Despite the loss, the Dust Devils still hold a winning record (20-18 since 2021) in extra innings as a full-season Angels affiliate.
NEXT UP
Tri-City and Eugene meet for game two of their six-gamer at 6:35 p.m. tonight at PK Park, with right-hander Austin Gordon (0-0, 6.75 ERA) of the Dust Devils scheduled to face off against righty Josh Wolf (1-0, 3.86 ERA) of the Emeralds. The weather forecast calls for rain, with any updates as to delays or time changes posted on Tri-City’s social media pages (X, Facebook, Instagram).
The pregame show begins at 6:15 p.m., with the game broadcast available for free at dustdevilsbaseball.com and the MiLB app.
The team returns home after Sunday’s 4:05 p.m. finale to host the Everett AquaSox for six games beginning at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday night, April 15, at Gesa Stadium. For tickets for both the upcoming Everett series, and all 2025 Dust Devils home games, visit the official ticket site, dustdevilsbaseball.com.