Rawhide split Double-Header, Series With Quakes

VISALIA - The Visalia Rawhide dropped the first game 4-3, but bounced back in the second game to beat Rancho Cucamonga 2-0 and split the series at Rawhide Ballpark on Sunday afternoon.

In the first game, Chris Owings got the Rawhide on the board early, as he pulled a fastball over the left field fence for a solo home run off of Quakes starter Angel Sanchez (1-1). It was the first home run of the season for Owings, and it got Visalia out to an early 1-0 lead.

Rancho Cucamonga would rally in the top of the third inning. Charlie Mirabal and Leon Landry lead off the inning with a double and a single respectively off of Rawhide starter Mike Bolsinger (0-2). With runners at the corners, Michael Pericht came through for the Quakes with a double, scoring both runners to give Rancho a 2-1 lead. The Rawhide gave the Quakes some additional help when second baseman Mike Freeman botched a groundball from Austin Gallagher, allowing Pericht to move over to third base. He would eventually score on a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1.

The Rawhide would give up a frustrating run in the top of the 5th. Tyler Henson would steal home when Rawhide catcher Raywilly Gomez threw to second in an attempt to pick off Gallagher, the baserunner. Gallagher stalled on the basepath long enough to give Henson time to come home and make it 4-1.

Owings, Jon Griffin and Bobby Borchering started off the top of the 5th with three straight hits. After Owings scored off of Borchering's double, the Rawhide could only manage to bring in one more run on a groundball from Gomez to cut the lead to 4-3.

The Rawhide threatened in the bottom of the 7th, but were not able to convert any runs, as they wound up losing the first game of the double-header 4-3.

The second game started off similarly to the first, as the Rawhide (6-4) got on the board in the bottom of the 1st inning via an RBI-double from Mike Freeman. Quakes starter Zach Lee (0-1) hit the lead off batter, Keon Broxton before serving one up for Freeman to hit into the gap in left-center field.

After barely yanking one to the right of the right field foul pole in the 2nd inning, Yazy Arbelo lead off the top of the 4th with a solo home run to extend Visalia's lead to 2-0. It was Arbelo's second consecutive day with a home run and his fourth homer on the season.

Ray Hernandez (2-0) was terrific in his first start with Visalia. The big righty tossed five scoreless innings, surrendering just three hits while striking out four and walking none. Patrick Schuster and Bo Schultz (S, 3) combined to shut down Rancho in order in the final two innings to secure the victory for the Rawhide and provide the final score of 2-0.

The Rawhide start their second series of the homestand against the Bakersfield Blaze tomorrow afternoon at 1 pm. All Rawhide Facebook fans will receive free admission! All you have to do is print out the fan page from your profile or just show the ticket office on your smart phone that you are a fan. It is also the first Make-a-Difference Monday of the season. Donate a school item at the ticket office and receive free admission! All school supplies donated will go to benefit Houston Elementary School in Visalia.