Pickles Complete Sweep Over Night Owls
PORTLAND, Ore. (June 23, 2024) – The brooms were brought out in Walker Stadium as the Portland Pickles (13-6) completed the sweep over the visiting Nanaimo Night Owls (7-11). Winners of four straight, the Pickles have won seven of the last ten games, and sit in second in the West of the WCL.
The Night Owls did not record a hit until the seventh inning. The Pickles’ pitching staff would reach double-digit strikeouts again striking out 10 Night Owl hitters. A four run eighth would be the only blemish for the pitching staff. Starting right-hander Freddie Rodriguez (Hawaii) made his second start of the season. Rodriguez threw 5.0 innings of no-hit work and struck out six Night Owls.
Center Fielder Dominic Chacon (GCU) led the Pickles’ hitters with a double, three walks, and a run. Catcher Connor Stewart (CSUN) would record two hits and two runs, and first baseman Kevin Ferguson (Hawaii) would record one’s across the board (hit, walk, run, and one RBI).
KEY MOMENTS OF THE GAME:
In the bottom of the first, center fielder Dominic Chacon (GCU) worked a two out walk. Chacon would steal second, and an error from the catcher would advance him to third. Shortstop Alex Guoveia (UC Davis) stayed hot with a two out single to right field and scored Chacon from third to take the early 1-0 lead.
Catcher Connor Stewart (CSUN) would start the bottom of the fourth off with a leadoff infield single. A throwing error would advance him to second, and a one out single from first baseman Kevin Ferguson (Hawaii) would have runners on first and third. Right fielder Tanner Griffith (St. Marys) would work a two out walk to load the bases once again. A couple of wild pitches, would bring across two runs to extend the lead 3-0.
In the top of the seventh, a leadoff single would give the Night Owls their first hit of the game. A second baseman Shunsuke Sakaino (CSUN) leadoff walk, and a catcher Connor Stewart double would give the Pickles runners on second and third with no outs in the bottom of the seventh. Two more walks, and two sacrifice flies, would push across three runs to make the Pickles’ lead 6-0.
The top of the eighth saw a leadoff walk, and a single for Night Owls’ second hit of the ballgame would give runners on first and second with no outs. A single, and a sacrifice fly with one out would score the first runs of the game for the Night Owls, and bring the tying run to the plate. A couple of wild pitches would cut the deficit to two. Right-hander reliever Coleman Bobb (College of Southern Idaho) would come in for relief and strike out two Night Owls to keep the 6-4 lead. In the top of the ninth, a ground out to second base, and a walk would bring the tying run to the plate. Bobb would strike out and force a fly out to center field to complete the sweep and the 6-4 victory.
GAME NOTES:
Right-hander Carter Speights (UC Davis) made his second appearance of the season throwing one inning and adding a strikeout.
Left-hander Collin Miskelly (LBSU) would make his fifth appearance of the season. Miskelly is tied with Noah Luchessi (Sacramento State) for the most appearances for the season (5).
Right fielder Tanner Griffith (St. Marys) recorded a walk and has reached base safely in 15 of 17 games this season.
Dominic Chacon (GCU) recorded a double and three walks. Chacon also recorded a steal for his third time in four games. Chacon has reached base safely in all 11 games played this season.
Center fielder Sam Christiansen (Oklahoma) recorded two walks and has reached base safely in 16 of 18 games this season.
Alex Gouveia (UC Davis) recorded a single for his fifth straight game with a hit, and has reached base safely in six games played this season. Gouveia also recorded a stolen base for his second in the series.
Connor Stewart (CSUN) recorded two hits (single and a double) for his fourth straight game with a hit, and his second double of the season. Stewart has recorded at least one hit in 12 of 16 games played this season, and has three multi-hit games this season.
Shunsuke Sakaino (CSUN) recorded a walk and has reached base safely in 11 of 12 games played this season. Sakaino also recorded two walks for the second time this season
Kenny Ishikawa started in left field for his first start as a hitter this season.
The Pickles have won their sixth series of the season, and have won six of seven this season.
The Pickles had runners in scoring position in 7 of 8 innings, and left 12 runners on base.
The Pickles are 9-4 at home, 4-2 on the road, and 7-3 in their last 10 games
Pickles In The WCL:
The Pickles stand 3.5 games back of first place in the South Division of the WCL, and second overall in winning percentage (.684). Team defense is second in fielding percentage (.974)
Offense is second in total walks (121), second in stolen bases (48), third in OBP (.387).
Pitching is first in hits allowed (107), in WHIP (1.17), AVG against (.177), and tied for first in total strikeouts (192).
Patrick Keighran (San Francisco) is first in HBP (8), sits fourth in total walks (14) and sits fifth in runs scored (17).
Connor Stewart (CSUN) sits fourth in HBP (5).
Sam Christiansen (Oklahoma) sits tied first in stolen bases (13), fourth in total walks (14).
Tanner Griffith (St. Marys) sits third in total walks (17).
Brock Roundy (Utah Tech) sits first in ERA (.000) and is tied for fifth in total strikeouts (21)
Shay Timmer (Salt Lake CC) sits eighth in total strikeouts (18).
Next Up:
The Portland Pickles (13-6) will have a day off, then will start a 15 of 18 road game stretch as they will face the Yakima Valley Pippins (11-10) for a three-game series June 25th-27th.
Ticket Info: https://www.picklestickets.com/
