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PCL1 Las Vegas Aviators

Aviators Fall to El Paso 15-7 in Opener of Home Series

April 25, 2019 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Las Vegas Aviators News Release


The Las Vegas Aviators returned to Las Vegas Ballpark on Wednesday night hoping to pick up where they left off in their inaugural homestand, when they won six of seven games. Unfortunately, the four-time defending Pacific Coast League Southern Division-champion El Paso Chihuahuas had other ideas.

Buoyed by an eight-run third inning, the Chihuahuas (12-7) cruised to a 15-7 victory before a lively crowd of 9,498-the eighth consecutive sellout at Las Vegas Ballpark.

The Chihuahuas entered Wednesday's contest with the PCL's best team batting average (just ahead of the Aviators), and they flexed their muscles with 10 extra-base hits, including four home runs. Right fielder Jacob Scavuzzo led the way for El Paso, going 4-for-6 with a pair of home runs, a triple and six RBIs.

El Paso raced out to a quick 2-0 lead against Aviators starter Paul Blackburn (2-1), thanks to a Josh Naylor home run in the first inning. After a relatively easy second inning in which he allowed a harmless two-out single, Blackburn struggled mightily in the third, failing to record an out as the first eight Chihuahuas reached base safely and scored. Scavuzzo (three-run HR) and El Paso third baseman Seth Mejias-Brean (two-run HR) did the bulk of the damage as El Paso sent 11 men to the plate.

Whereas some teams facing a swift 10-0 deficit might pack it in for the night, the Aviators (15-5) showed their grit by attempting to claw back midway through the game. After El Paso starter Jerry Keel (3-0) limited Las Vegas to just a Dustin Fowler single through four innings, the Aviators' bats finally woke up with two runs each in the fourth and fifth innings to cut the deficit to 10-4. However, the Chihuahuas got three of those runs back in the sixth courtesy of Scavuzzo's second home run (a two-run shot) and a wild pitch in the seventh.

Aviators third baseman Sheldon Neuse answered in the bottom of the seventh with a booming three-run home run to left-center field, his first long ball of the season that scored Eric Campbell and Sean Murphy. Murphy finished the night 3-for-3 with two doubles, a walk and three RBI- boosting his batting average to .397-while Neuse and Fowler also had multi-hit games, each going 2-for-5.

Unfortunately, on this night, the contributions of Neuse, Murphy and Fowler weren't enough to keep Las Vegas from suffering its most lopsided defeat of the young season. The good news? The Aviators still own the PCL's best record, and they get another crack at the Chihuahuas at 7:05 p.m. Thursday in the second game of this five-game series. Las Vegas' Tyler Alexander (0-0, 4.40 ERA) is scheduled to oppose Logan Allen (1-1, 7.88 ERA) in a battle of southpaws on the second $2 Beer Night of the 2019 season.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from April 25, 2019


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