Rawhide Blow Past Mavericks 26-11

Adelanto, CA - Michael Freeman led off the game with a groundout to the first baseman. Little did everyone know it would be the only time he was denied a hit in his record-setting performance. The Rawhide amassed a total of 31 hits in their 26-11 route of the High Desert Mavericks on Tuesday night at Mavericks Stadium.

The Rawhide exploded in the first four innings of last night's game and never looked back. Throughout the season, it has been the pitching that has carried the team to victories, but that would not be the case on this night.

In the 4th inning, the Rawhide collected eight hits in a row without recording an out, just two shy of the California League record. Reno had 10 hits in a row against Stockton on June 27, 1962 in the 1st inning and Rancho Cucamonga had 10 against San Jose on July 4, 2000 in the 1st inning with one out.

Jon Griffin added two more long balls to his home run total. He now has eight on the season. Chris Owings and Carter Bell also went deep; it was Bell's first homer on the year. Griffiin was just a double shy of the cycle, despite having two chances to accomplish the feat.

The Rawhide's 31 hits fell just two shy of the California League record. Lake Elsinore piled up 33 hits against High Desert on June 28th, 2009.

Perhaps the biggest story of the night was Michael Freeman's seven-hit performance. After grounding out in the first inning, Freeman would go on to record seven straight hits and finish the evening 7-for-8 with four RBI and three runs scored. Freeman, who entered the game with a .230 batting average in 139 at-bats, raised his batting average 35 points to .265.

Major League rehabber Chris Young saw more work than he probably expected, getting five at-bats, collecting two hits of his own and three RBI before being replaced by Ryan LaPensee. LaPensee was the only Rawhide player to not record a hit in the contest.

These two teams will face each other one last time at 11:05 am on Wednesday morning. It should be a good pitching matchup, as Andrew Chafin (2-0, 2.79 ERA) and James Gillheeney (3-0, 2.75) will look to keep the runs off the board in the rubber match of this three-game set.

The Rawhide return home Thursday, May 17th to start an exciting six-game homestand, with three-game series scheduled against rivals San Jose and Bakersfield. Tickets are on sale at www.RawhideBaseball.com.