Beavers Win First Game of Doubleheader
UTICA, Mich. – The Birmingham Bloomfield Beavers (1-0) secured a 2-1 victory over the Eastside Diamond Hoppers (0-1) giving them their first win of the 2024 USPBL Season in a low-scoring affair on Saturday in game one at Jimmy Johns Field.
The first run of the game came from Ray Hilbrich in the 2nd inning. The second run for Birmingham Bloomfield came in the bottom of the fifth off the bat of Christian Ortega, securing his first RBI of the new season.
A valiant comeback effort was made by the Hoppers in the top of the sixth, with Ben Ferguson starting the inning off with a double, followed immediately by an RBI double from Jake Shier, bringing Ferguson home, however, the inning would be ended on strikeouts, and the Beavers would escape.
The story of the game was the strong pitching performance from both bullpens, but the Beavers’ starting pitcher Greg Loukinen had the most impressive performance of the night, totaling 8 strikeouts in 5.0 innings of play, and allowing no runs to earn his first pitching win of the season.
Loukinen had high praise for his defense after the game. “They did really, really well and backed me up well,” he said, “They made some great plays.”
Written by: Ethan Desjardine