Two Dust Devil Homers Decide Series Opener

The Hillsboro Hops were defeated by the Tri-City Dust Devils 2-0 in the series opener. The Hops offense knocked on the door several time in the contest, but the clutch hit eluded them. 
The Northwest League leader in Wins and ERA Deyni Oliver took the mound for the Hops. Olivero pitched well over four innings allowing a lone run on homer by Jack Stronach. Jacob Stevens entered in relief and pitched a scoreless fifth inning, but allowed a long home run to right-field off the bat of Matthew Acosta in the sixth. 

The Hops offense got off to a slow start with only one baserunner over the first three innings. The Dust Devils starting pitcher Nick Thwaits tossed six scoreless innings with six punch outs.  
Hillsboro's offense began applying pressure putting two men on base in the final five innings of the game, but the Tri-City bullpen was able to prevent a comeback. Thankfully for the Hops, the Eugene Emeralds also fell on Saturday night to keep both clubs tied for the final playoff spot in the South Division of the Northwest League.  
Hillsboro (37-24) and Tri-City (29-32) will face off again tomorrow at 4:05 pm. Catch all the action on Rip City Radio 620 AM with the pregame show airing at 3:35 pm.