Rawhide Drop Game One of 2021 Season

Rawhide dropped first game of the 2021 season to the Lake Elsinore Storm. It was a match up of the 2019 California League Championship and the Rawhide fell short with the final score of 8-7.

The lead changed four times throughout the game. Sheng-Ping Chen hit a 2-RBI double in his first professional at bat in the bottom of the first inning to give the Rawhide the 2-0 lead. Austin Pope, the Rawhide starter, kept the Lake Elsinore Storm off the board until the third inning. Euribiel Angeles drove in a run and then Brandon Valenzuela hit a 3-run blast over the right field wall taking the 4-2 lead.

Visalia trailed by three in the bottom of the fourth until Ronny Simon tied it up with a 3-run homer of his own. The next inning, Chen gave the Rawhide the 6-5 lead with an RBI base hit up the middle.

Continuing the back-and-forth trend, the Storm tied it at six when Matthew Acosta singled on a bunt with Gilberto Vizcarra on third. In the seventh, Jorge Barrosa drilled an inside pitch over the right field wall to give the Rawhide the lead for the final time.

In the eighth, Lake Elsinore found themselves down by one. Matthew Acosta picked up his third RBI of the night when he hit the fourth home run of the game. Acosta's 2-run home run gave the Storm the 8-7 lead.

Visalia threatened in the bottom of the eighth, but stranded two runners in scoring position. The Storm defeated the Rawhide 8-7. Visalia Harrison Francis took the loss and blown save. Lake Elsinore's Michell Miliano earned his first win of the season and Jose Garcia earned the save.

Rawhide host the Storm for game two of the six game series tomorrow at 6pm.