It was two explosive innings and the Chihuahuas won their second straight game to split the series against the Reno Aces. Brett Wallace and Austin Hedges continued to provide offensively as El Paso got 12 hits on the night.
“We worked on a lot of things this spring and to be able to transfer it to when it counts is really nice,” Hedges said. “Put a lot of hard work and preparation to put my swing where it is and hope that I can ride it out as long as I can.”
After the first three Chihuahua batters were retired, the next six made contact and got on base in the second inning. Wallace and first baseman Tommy Medica got the party started with back-to-back singles setting up Hedges who would double into left field and put the first run of the night on the board.
The struggles of Aces’ starting pitcher Justin Marks continued when Jake Goebbert singled into right field bringing in two more runs and Abraham Almonte doubled to bring in another two.
Almonte continued to attack, stole third and forced an errant throw that allowed him to score the sixth run of the inning.
“This team is gonna be really explosive,” Hedges said. “Every single guy that we have in our lineup has the capability of driving the ball.”
It took a spectacular diving catch from Reno’s left fielder, Garrett Weber, to end the second just as the Chihuahuas were about to start going through their lineup again.
El Paso would get hot once again in the fifth when they would put four more runs on the board. The Aces decided to intentionally load the bases with Hedges coming up to the plate and he made them pay. He singled to left field and brought to runs to the plate.
The offensive explosions in both the second and sixth inning were a result of strong at-bats all throughout the Chihuahua lineup. Five different players had two hits and two others had one.
“We played team offense,” said Chihuahuas’ manager Pat Murphy. “Even guys that haven’t been contributing that much.”
The El Paso pitching staff kept the visitors under control for the most part, with the biggest threat coming in the third.
The Aces tried to answer the Chihuahuas’ huge second inning and loaded up the bases quickly, putting starting pitcher Robbie Erlin in some trouble. He managed to get out of the inning, but not without some damage being done—the Aces scored two runs and that would be as close as they would get on the scoreboard.
Erlin pitched five innings allowing seven hits and three earned runs. He struck out seven.
The relievers once again performed well allowing just one combined run in four innings of work. Stephen Kohlscheen pitched two innings without a hit and three strikeouts. Leonel Campos came in the eighth and struck out two, while allowing one run. Scott Elbert came in to close the game out and retired all three batters he faced.
“Erlin had a good start and the bullpen again was great,” Murphy said.
With a record of 4-4 the Chihuahuas will now go on the road for the first time this season. They will head to Tacoma, against who they opened the season, looking for their first series win of the year. The Chihuahuas and the Rainiers each won two games in the four game series in El Paso last week.
The next time El Paso plays at Southwest University Park will be next Tuesday, April 21 against Sacramento with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
Luis Gonzalez may be reached at [email protected].
