Pippins Take Down Studs in Exhibition Action

YAKIMA, Wash. – The Yakima Valley Pippins used timely late hitting and a strong team pitching performance to capture a 9-4 win over the Seattle Studs in exhibition action at Yakima County Stadium on Sunday night.

The Pippins, opening up the season with an exhibition before the West Coast League season begins on Tuesday, fell behind early when starter Hunter French surrendered a walk and back-to-back base hits in the first inning, with Studs first baseman Ryan Budnick driving home a run to give Seattle an early lead. French settled down from there, and did not allow another run in his three-inning start.

The Pippins tagged on two runs in the bottom of the 2nd, capped by a Korrey Siracusa double, to take their first lead of the year, but quickly relinquished that in the 4th inning when a Tanner Parker throwing error allowed the Studs to tie the game at 2. From there, the Pippins were in control.

A.J. Wood, Scott Youngbrandt, and Ty Pohlmann each threw well out of the bullpen, with Wood’s 3 innings, in which he allowed just 1 unearned run on 1 hit while striking out 2, earning him the first win of the Pippins’ 2019 season. The trio combined for four strikeouts and one walk over 5 innings of work out of the bullpen.

Offensively, the Pippins exploded for a 5-run 6th inning, in which 10 men came to the plate and the team batted around. The inning was capped by Owen Cobb‘s booming RBI double to right-center field, and followed with bloop RBI base hits from Daniel Cipriano and Henry Gargus. The Pippins tacked on two more in the 7th inning as well off of Seattle reliever Tegan Aden, who took the loss after allowing 7 runs (6 earned) in 1.2 innings of work.

Left-hander Brycen Allen started for the Studs, surrendering 2 runs on 4 hits and 2 strikeouts without a walk over 3 innings of work. The Studs pounced on Pippins reliever Mark Woinarowicz for 2 runs in the top of the ninth, but he closed the door with a strikeout to leave it at 9-4.

The Pippins have Monday off, before hitting the road Tuesday to open up the 2019 West Coast League season in Ridgefield against the WCL’s newest team, the expansion Ridgefield Raptors. First pitch at the Ridgefield Outdoor Recreation Complex is set for 6:35 PM PT, with left-hander Dylan Barkley expected to start for Yakima Valley. The game will be broadcast live on pippinsbaseball.com/live, with pre-game coverage beginning 15 minutes prior to first pitch.

By Miles Klotz

June 3, 2019