26 Combined Walks in Marathon Series Opener Loss

Vancouver, BC (April 29, 2025) – The Hops traveled north of the border to begin a six-game set with the Vancouver Canadians on Tuesday. Nat Bailey Stadium was not kind to the Hops last season as they were 1-11 in Vancouver over 12 games and those struggles would continue to start 2025. 3:47 minutes and 26 walks later, the Canadians came away with a 15-9 win. Druw Jones walked four times for the Hops and Jansel Luis drove in five, but Victor Arias’ four-hit night led the C’s to victory. Hillsboro was 4-for-19 with runners in scoring position and stranded 14 runners on base. The 15 issued walks by Vancouver pitching set a new franchise record for the Hops.

Hops’ starter Daniel Nunez threw 36 pitches in the first inning and recorded just two outs. The first three pitchers of the game for Hillsboro (Nunez, Minyety and Norris) all finished with two hits and three earned runs allowed.

Vancouver jumped out to a 3-0 lead after one inning and wouldn’t look back from there. Ryan Waldschmidt extended his on-base streak to 21-games by walking in the second inning and later came in to score on a Ben McLaughlin groundout. Hillsboro would get one more in the third, a sac fly and the first of five RBI in the game for Jansel Luis, but that’s as close as they would get. The Hops loaded the bases in the third and fourth innings, but only got one combined run out of it.

With a 4-2 lead the C’s added five more runs in the third, batting around in the inning and drawing four walks and recording three hits. Cutter Coffey’s two-RBI single was the big knock of the inning that made it 9-2.

The Vancouver, BC native Eli Saul came on in the fourth inning and pitched very well. Saul did walk a batter, but then got an inning-ending double play and pitched the only one-two-three inning of the game in the fifth.

Luis picked up two more RBI in the sixth inning after back-to-back walks by Rojas and Jones. They made it interesting in the eighth inning sending Demetrio Crisantes to the plate with the bases loaded again and trailing 9-4, but he struck out to end the threat.

Vancouver had their second five-run inning of the game in the eighth and the Hops had to turn to first baseman Ben Mclaughlin to come on to pitch and get the final two outs of the inning. He got a pair of flyouts around an error and single by the C’s.

The Canadians had a commanding 15-5 lead entering the ninth inning, but the Hops would not go down without a fight. Two quick outs to start the inning, but then the Hops had six consecutive two-out hitters reach base. Jansel Luis drove in two more and Ryan Waldschmidt had another RBI single, but Demetrio Crisantes would again ground out with the bases loaded.

Vancouver took game one by a final of 15-9. There were 26 combined walks, Vancouver walked 15 and Hillsboro walked 11. The 15 Vancouver runs mark a season-high for an opponent.

Game two of the series is tonight at Nat Bailey stadium. First pitch is at 7:05 with the pregame show starting at 6:50 on Rip City Radio 620 AM.