Brad Shankle hit his first home run of the season for the Generals on Friday night
The Victoria Generals offense struck early and often on Friday night as they defeated the visiting Acadiana Cane Cutters by a final score of 9-2. They were aided by a strong outing by Sam Hansen who picked up his first win of the season. Hansen made his first start for the Generals, pitching six innings, allowing just one run on seven hits while striking out five batters.
The Generals got on the board in the bottom of the first, scoring three runs in the inning without recording a single hit. The Generals loaded the bases when Chad Kruse led off with a walk, Freddy Villalobos was hit by a pitch, and Trent Wagner reached base on an error by the Acadiana shortstop. Then, the Generals drew three walks to score all three runs. John Longoria, Grayson Porter, and Ryan Dalton all recorded RBI walks in the inning.
The Generals made the score 4-0 in the second inning on an RBI single by Longoria.
After the Cane Cutters plated a run in the top of the third inning, the Generals responded with a run of their own on a solo home run by catcher Brad Shankle. It was Shankle's first home run of the season for the Generals.
In the fifth inning, Dalton and Shankle had back-to-back singles to start the inning and advanced to second and third on a sacrifice bunt by Kevin Phillips. Shankle scored on an error by the second baseman and Dalton scored on an RBI single by Kruse.
The Generals made the score 8-1 in the sixth when Longoria scored on a wild pitch.
The Cane Cutters added a run in the seventh and the Generals responded once again with a run of their own. This time it was Kruse scoring on a wild pitch after leading off the frame with a triple.
The Generals improved to 14-18 on the season and 2-1 in the second-half. The Cane Cutters fell to 16-14 overall and 1-2 in the second-half.
The Generals and Cane Cutters return to Riverside Stadium on Saturday night for game two of the series at 7:05pm.
Box Score:
http://tcl-generals.bbstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=48424
Article:
http://www.advosports.com/news/2011/jul/08/generals_0709_145328/
Video:
http://crossroadstoday.com/Generals--Sam-Hansen-Picks-Up-A-Win-in-His-First-S/10312910
