Herrera homers late, but 'Hawks fall short

VISALIA, Calif. - Carlos Herrera's ninth-inning home run brought the JetHawks within a run, but they ultimately fell, 5-4, to the Visalia Rawhide on Thursday night at Recreation Ballpark. 
The JetHawks (7-8) entered the final inning down, 5-1, before Herrera hit a three-run opposite field shot against reliever Cole Bartlett. It was his second homer of the season. 
Visalia (11-4) made the move to closer Cole Bartlett, and he allowed a one-out hit to Casey Golden before recording the final two outs for the save. 
Antonio Santos (0-1) struggled in the first inning and suffered his first loss of the season. The right-hander gave up three run-scoring doubles in the first, and an error led to an unearned run before the inning was over. A dropped fly ball led to the Rawhide's final run later in the game. It was also unearned. 
Santos would end up striking out seven over 4.2 innings. Lancaster's bullpen combined to not allow an earned run over the final 4.1 frames.
Matt Hearn drove in the first run of the game with a single that extended his hitting streak to 11 games. 
The series continues with the middle game on Friday night in Visalia. Matt Dennis starts for the JetHawks against Jeff Bain. First pitch is 7 p.m.

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