PORTLAND — Try as he might, Michael Hicks could not power the Ridgefield Raptors to another series sweep on Thursday, as Ridgefield saw its six-game win streak come to a close in a 6-5 loss to Portland (4-5) at Walker Stadium.
Hicks opened the scoring with a solo home run over the 15-foot high center-field fence that sits 330 feet from home plate. The Boise State lefty then hit a three-run opposite field blast to give the Raptors a 4-2 lead in the third.
“He’s unreal, and we finally got to see a couple home runs from him tonight,” said Raptors starter Zach Barnes, who threw a quality seven innings. “He’s been smoking the ball all year.”
Portland rallied for three runs in the eighth, including a solo homer, a sacrifice fly and an RBI single from Clark College’s Connor Wojahn to take a 6-4 lead.
Hicks came to the plate again in the ninth with a chance to nearly single-handedly bring a win home. With two runners on and two outs, the Pickles chose to intentionally walk Hicks. UNLV’s Isaiah Montoya then struck out Steve Ramirez to end the game.
The Raptors (6-3) return home for a three-game homestead with Port Angeles (5-4) on Friday.
Three key moments
Portland pulls in front — For the first time in the series, the Pickles led the Raptors after a second-inning two-out rally gave Portland a 2-1 lead. The rally featured hits from Long Beach State’s Chase Luttrell, Saint Mary’s Kyle Velazquez and Loyola Marymount’s Cole Roberts.
Double damage — Michael Hicks followed up his first-inning solo home run over the center-field wall with a three-run opposite field blast that just cleared the left-field fence to give the Raptors a 4-2 lead.
Welcome to the game — Washington State’s Kyle Manzardo welcomed Boise State’s Wesley Harper to the game as he took Harper’s third pitch of the game over the left-field wall to tie the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the eighth. Chase Luttrell (Long Beach State) hit a sacrifice fly and Connor Wojahn (Clark College) hit an RBI single to lead the Pickles to a 6-4 lead and eventual win.
Three key players
Michael Hicks — The Boise State senior blasted two home runs to score the Raptors’ first four runs of the game.
Trent Bixby — The UNLV senior came on in relief in the fifth for the Pickles, and hurled four innings of scoreless ball, striking out four and allowing just two hits to earn the win.
Zach Barnes — After some struggles early, the Grand Canyon University junior settled into his second start of the summer. He went seven innings on 86 pitches, allowing seven hits, one earned run and two walks. His ERA dropped to 1.38 on the season. “So far, so good,” Barnes said of the season so far. “I’m working on developing a better changeup and slider. I’ve always had a good fastball, so I’m trying to develop my offspeed pitches.”
Three numbers
5 — Double plays the Raptors turned on Thursday night, one in each of the first five innings.
7 — Home runs the Raptors have hit this season, including Hicks’ first-inning solo shot and a third-inning three-run blast Thursday.
12 — The Raptors are in the middle of a 15-game span, in which 12 of those are on the road. After road trips to Kelowna and Portland, the Raptors return home for a three-game series with Port Angeles on Friday before heading to Longview for a three-game slate with Cowlitz followed by a three-game series in Corvallis.
