Emeralds Sweep Double-Header to Clinch 5th Straight Series Victory
NWL Eugene Emeralds

Emeralds Sweep Double-Header to Clinch 5th Straight Series Victory

Published on May 2, 2026 under Northwest League (NWL)
Eugene Emeralds News Release


EUGENE, OR - The Eugene Emeralds defeated the Spokane Indians in a double-header to pick up their 5th consecutive series victory. The Ems won game 1 by a final score of 11-0 and won a gritty game 2 by a final of 4-3. With the victories today, the Emeralds join the Richmond Flying Squirrels (Giants Double-A Affiliate) as the only teams between Low-A, High-A and Double-A to reach 20 wins on the season today.

Game 1 of the double-header was as good as it gets for the Ems, as they bounced back from their first loss of the week last night to defeat Spokane 11-0. The eleven runs is the most runs scored in a game for Eugene this season and they did it in just 6 innings of at-bats.

Trevor Cohen led off the 1st inning with a single before Dakota Jordan hit a ground-rule double to put runners in scoring position. Carlos Gutierrez ripped a single to plate both runners but got caught trying to hustle back into 1st base after thinking about the hustle double. Regardless, the Ems led 2-0 after the 1st.

They put up a 3-spot in the 2nd inning after sending 9 total hitters to the plate. Walker Martin hit a leadoff single and Ty Hanchey followed it up to put runners at the corners before Robert Hipwell drew a walk. Cohen brought home the first run on a sac-fly RBI and a wild pitch scored Hanchey from 3rd. Eugene loaded up the bases after Gutierrez drew a walk and Christian got hit by a pitch with the bases juiced to bring home the 3rd and final run of the 2nd inning to give the Ems the 5-0 advantage.

The game was completely put out of reach in the 4th. The Ems sent 10 batters to the dish and brought home 5 of them to take a 10-0 lead. Cohen led off the inning with a walk and stole 2nd base for his 11th of the year. Kilen hit an RBI-single before Dakota Jordan put the nail in the coffin with an opposite field 2-run home run for his 5th of the season. Gutierrez followed it up with a walk and Christian hit a single before Martin and Hanchey each hit singles that brought home a run to make it a double-digit lead for the Ems.

They added their final run in the bottom of the 5th after Gutierrez drew a 2-out walk and once again Christian doubled to bring home both runners and make it 11-0 Ems which proved to be the final in game 1. The pitchers were dominant as Yunior Marte picked up his NWL leading 4th win of the season after tossing 5 scoreless innings with 5 strikeouts. Esmerlin Vinicio struck out 2 over the final 2 innings of work on the mound to give the Ems their 2nd shutout victory of the season.

After a quick intermission between the 2 games, Jakob Christian wasted no time in giving the Ems the lead. Lisbel Diaz was the leadoff man in game 2 and hit a double before Kilen drew a 5-pitch walk. Christian sent a 104.7 mph double to left field that gave both base runners ample time to come home and score to put the Ems out in front in the 1st.

It seemed like Eugene was poised for another big offensive day, but the Spokane pitching staff was able to dial it in and keep the Ems scoreless until the 6th. Spokane actually got their first lead of the game in the 5th inning after Roynier Hernandez drew a leadoff walk and Tommy Hopfe crushed a game-tying home run. The damage wouldn't stop there as Tevin Tucker drew a walk before Jacob Humphrey hit a 2-out RBI-Single to give Spokane the 3-2 lead.

Eugene kept on fighting in the bottom of the 6th inning to take back the lead. Christian hit a leadoff single before Zane Zielinski hustled his way into 1st base on an infield knock of his own. After a failed bunt attempt, Onil Perez dropped one in perfectly over the head of Spokane's 1st baseman Kevin Fitzer for the game-tying RBI-Double. Robert Hipwell ended up giving the Ems the lead on a groundout that gave Zielinski plenty of time to score to make it 4-3 Ems.

Ben Peterson had pitched around some trouble in the 6th and came back out to start the 7th inning on the mound. He gave up a leadoff single before striking out Max Belyeu. Robert Calaz sent a screamer to right field that was hit so hard Humphrey had to stop at 3rd base as the tying runner. Drama ensued when Kevin HIdalgo hit a great bunt back towards the pitchers but it took an awkward bounce off of the turf and sent the ball into foul territory. What would've been the tying hit was wiped off the board as Peterson was able to dial it back in and get him to strikeout swinging. Ryan Slater took over in a high leverage spot and got Hernandez to ground out to end the game and give the Ems the 4-3 win.

It was a great showing here today on both sides of the baseball for the Ems as they secured their 5th consecutive series victory to start the season. They hold a 5-game lead in the Northwest League standings with only 40 games remaining in the 1st half. Eugene will close out the series tomorrow afternoon with first pitch at 1:05 PM and Jacob Bresnahan making his PK Park debut on the mound.

#RootedHere

Check out the Eugene Emeralds Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Northwest League Stories from May 2, 2026


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central