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Zephyrs hold off late Express charge

Hill's two-run single in seventh provides winning margin
April 22, 2013

Koyie Hill's two-run single broke a seventh-inning tie, and the New Orleans Zephyrs withstood a late rally by the Round Rock Express to win 6-5 on Monday night at Dell Diamond.

With the game knotted at 4-4 with the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh, Hill drilled Yoshinori Tateyama's 3-1 pitch into right-center field to plate a pair of runs.

The Z's carried the two-run edge into the bottom of the ninth, but the Express strung together three singles against closer Chris Hatcher, including a two-out hit by Joey Butler to bring Round Rock within a run. With the tying run at third, Hatcher struck out Yangervis Solarte to end the game and earn his league-leading sixth save.

The back-and-forth contest saw Round Rock grab an early lead when Mike Olt connected for a two-run homer against Zephyrs starter Jacob Turner.

New Orleans responded in the top of the third, tying the score on a two-run blast from Ed Lucas. The Z's took the lead in the next inning when Hill doubled to lead off the frame and scored on a sacrifice fly by Matt Downs.

This time it was the Express who battled back, getting a two-out RBI from Aaron Cunningham on a sharp grounder off the glove of first baseman Jordan Brown.

The teams traded runs in the fifth inning, as the Zephyrs grabbed a brief lead on an RBI double by Bryan Petersen, only to see the Express tie the score in the bottom half on a throwing error by Downs, allowing Engel Beltre to score from first.

Lucas finished with 4-for-5, and Ben Lasater added three knocks as the Zephyrs piled up a season-high 16 hits.

Turner (1-2) picked up his first win of the season with a six-inning effort. He allowed six hits and four runs - three earned - with four strikeouts and three walks.

Tateyama (0-1) was charged with two runs in two-thirds of an inning and took the loss.

The Zephyrs and Express conclude the four-game set on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m.