Drey Day! Jameson Fans 11 As Hops Win Another Thriller

Once again Drey Jameson pitched well enough to win a ballgame and on this night that was enough.

The Diamondbacks' first-round draft pick out of Ball State University, making his 20th professional appearance, fanned a career-high 11 batters in six innings and the Hillsboro Hops gave him just enough offense to eke out a 3-2 victory over the Eugene Emeralds at P.K. Park Saturday night. It was Jameson's first professional win after a frustrating 0-4 start to the season.

It was also the fifth consecutive one-run game of the week as the Hops (31-38) took a 3-2 series lead heading into Sunday's finale. Never before have the Hops played five straight games decided by one run.

The only run the hard-throwing Hoosier allowed came on a leadoff home run by Ems catcher Ricardo Genoves in the second inning. The Hops answered with a Cam Coursey RBI double in the fourth, then took the lead for good with two runs in the fifth inning.

Leading 3-1, there were plenty of tense moments to come as the Emeralds (40-30) put the leadoff runner aboard in the seventh and eighth innings, scoring a run in the eighth and putting the tying run in scoring position with nobody out. But Hillsboro reliever Wesley Rodriguez buckled down and struck out Eugene's 3-4-5 batters in succession to quell the threat, before Justin Lewis pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning to garner his first pro save.

Coursey went 2-for-3 with a walk, Roman Ruiz had two hits and a run scored and Dominic Canzone extended his hitting streak to a Hops season-high 11 games with a first inning single, adding another hit and a walk.

The Hops outhit the Emeralds for the fifth straight night and will look to pick up another game on the High-A West League's second place team as they try to clinch the series Sunday. Hillsboro currently trails Eugene by 8 1/2 games in the standings in the race for a postseason berth.

Jameson breezed through the first inning on six pitches, but Genoves greeted him rudely in the second. It was the tenth home run of the season for the former Northwest League All-Star catcher, his fourth of the season with the Ems after a half-dozen earlier this season at low-A San Jose. The Emeralds hit four balls hard in the inning, but after Coursey fielded Robert Emery 's hot smash up the middle for the final out of the frame and Eugene wouldn't get a runner past first again until the fifth inning.

The Hops put a runner at second base with none out in each of the first two innings, but could not score. Eugene starting pitcher Aaron Phillips , who came in 2-0 against Hillsboro and 1-5 against the rest of the league, retired six straight after a leadoff walk to Coursey in the second. But Andy Yerzy poked a single past the shifted third baseman to lead off the fourth and stole second. With one out, Coursey rifled a shot down the right field line for a double to plate the Hillsboro catcher, evening the game at 1-1.

In the fifth, the Hops broke the tie when Ruiz lined a base hit up the middle, went to second on a walk to , Canzone, then scored on Tristin English's ground ball single through the shortstop hole. English made perhaps the biggest play of the night on Yerzy's subsequent grounder to the right side. Eugene second baseman Carter Aldrete made the first of two great plays on the night to field the ball, pitching it to shortstop Nolan Dempsey for the force at second. But a hard English slide into the bag forced an errant high throw to first as Dempsey attempted to turn two. The ball sailed over Emery's head and Axel Andueza, who had gotten on via a fielder's choice, scored from second to give the Hops a 3-1 lead.

Aldrete walked off Rodriguez to lead off the seventh, but was thrown out by Yerzy trying to steal. In the eighth, Ismael Munguia jumped on Rodriguez' first pitch, doubling into the right field corner. Tyler Fitzgerald followed with a line single to center field and Reece Hampton 's throw went through to the plate as Munguia scored and Fitzgerald raced to second, putting the tying run in scoring position with none out. With the heart of the Eugene order coming up, Rodriguez fanned Sean Roby on three pitches, getting his to chase a breaking ball away. Genoves whiffed on a 2-2 off-speed pitch and Franklin Labour looked a strike three with Fitzgerald stranded at third base following a wild pitch.

Lewis made quick work of the Emeralds in the ninth. A starter in 2019 at Visalia, he had struggled out of the pen at AA Amarillo before coming to the Hops, but has now put together three consecutive scoreless, hitless outings.

Blake Walston will take the mound Sunday for the first time since his brilliant Tuesday night performance, when he struck out 11 batters and allowed just two hits and a walk over eight innings in a series-opening 3-2 win. Game time is 5:05 p.m. in Eugene with pregame airtime at 4:50 p.m. on Rip City Radio 620 AM.