June 9 Game Notes vs. El Paso

Iowa Cubs (23-36) vs. El Paso Chihuahuas (30-32)
Saturday, June 9 • 7:08 p.m. CT • Principal Park • Des Moines, IA
RHP Trevor Clifton (0-0, -,--) vs. LHP Dillon Overton (2-2, 2.76)

TONIGHT'S GAME: RHP Trevor Clifton will make his Triple-A debut tonight against Dillon Overton. At Double-A Tennessee Clifton was rock solid, posting a 3-4 record with a 2.86 ERA in 12 starts. Overton comes into the game with a 2-2 record and posts a 2.76 ERA. 
NEW KID ON THE BLOCK: Tonight's starting pitcher Trevor Clifton will be making his Triple-A debut. Clifton, who was drafted by the Cubs in 2013, currently sits as the 27th ranked prospect in the Cubs system. A majority of Clifton's career highs were recorded during the 2017 season. Last year he posted career highs in hits, runs, earned runs, home runs and walks. This season at Tennessee, Clifton posted a 3-4 record with a 2.86 ERA. This year opposing batters have yet to hit a home run off him and are batting .200. Clifton is also riding a 15-inning scoreless streak. 
STRIKEOUT CITY: The Iowa Cubs fanned a season high 14 in last night's game. RHP Duane Underwood sat down a season high 10 on strikes while LHP Alberto Baldonado and RHP Dillon Maples also added two a-piece out of the bullpen. The last time the I-Cubs struck out 13+ was against the El Paso Chihuahuas on July 27 when they struck out 20 last season.  
PERFECT EXECUTION: With the bases loaded in the second inning of last night's game, Chesny Young was able to poke a shallow single out to center field to score Taylor Davis and Bijan Rademacher. Young is now 3-for-7 (.429) with six RBI on the year with the bases loaded. He has also been swinging a hot bat, tallying a .325 batting average during May and recording a .381 batting average in his few games played in June. 
CARATINI TIME: Victor Caratini notched a 1-for-5 performance last night. The backstop has hit safely in eight of the last 11 games, with four multi-hit nights during the span. In his last series, Caratini went 4-for-12 with a double and three RBI. Over his 10-game stint in Des Moines, he has propelled himself into the top three in average (.316, 1st), OBP (.386, 1st), OPS (.781, 3rd) and slugging (.395, 3rd). 
HAMMER'IN HANNEMANN: Jacob Hannemann's 1-for-3 performance off a squeak single yesterday extended his hitting streak to eight games, his season high. 
AGAINST EL PASO: The I-Cubs and El Paso Chihuahuas will square off for the second of four games in 2018. Last season in El Paso, The I-Cubs came away with the series victory, taking three of four games. Mark Zagunis wrapped up the series going 8-for-17 with four runs, a double, home run, five RBI, a stolen base and five strikeouts. Taylor Davis had an equally strong series in his three games played, going 4-for-11 with two runs scored, a double, two RBI, two walks and two strikeouts. Both LHP Rob Zastryzny and RHP Dillon Maples came away with W's in the win column, with Zastryzny tossing 6.0 innings and surrendering just one earned run off three hits with six strikeouts in the process.
SCHOOL IS COOL: The Chicago Cubs wrapped up the 2018 First-Year Player Draft with another college heavy class, selecting 29 of the 42 draftees from JuCo or four-year programs. Over the 40 rounds, Chicago picked up 18 pitchers, 11 outfielders,10 infielders and three catchers. Stanford SS Nico Hoerner began the three-day event as the club's first-round pick at No. 24, while high school outfielder Brennen Davis swiped the 62nd selection of the second round. With two picks in the Compensation Round B, the Cubs picked up prep outfielder Cole Roederer of Newhall, Calif. and RHP Paul Richan of the University of San Diego. Of the 29 college draftees, Chicago will have six making NCAA Super Regional Appearances this weekend:  Jimmy Herron (Duke), Ethan Roberts (Tenn. Tech), Josh Sawyer (Texas), Jake Reindl (Arkansas), Hunter Taylor (South Carolina) and Levi Jordan (Washington).
K'S FROM DUANE: After letting up four runs in the first inning of last night's ball game, Duane Underwood Jr. settled in fanning eight batters through his next four innings of work. After Underwood's rocky inning, he was able to send down the next 12 of 14 batters he faced before being replaced by Alberto Baldonado. He also matched a career high 10 strike outs during last night's game. 
SHORT HOPS: The I-Cubs were just 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position last night. On the year, the team is batting .267 with runners in scoring position, which ranks fourth from the bottom in the PCL...Dillon Maples increased his scoreless innings streak to 6 innings after his appearance from last night...Duane Underwood and the bullpen held El Paso hitless from the end of the first to the sixth inning last night.