Villa Shuts Down Hawks On Mound In 5-0 Victory

BOISE, ID - A capacity crowd packed Memorial Stadium on Thursday night for a 4th of July battle in game 3 of this series featuring the Boise Hawks and Missoula PaddleHeads. The crowd in Boise would be sitting on their hands most of the night thanks in large part to an outstanding performance on the mound from Alfredo Villa. The reigning league pitcher of the year would not budge in his performance on the hill. On the flipside, the PaddleHeads offense would see their offense held off the board in the first 4 innings seeing the game remain tight. A 3 inning jolt of success however would give Missoula all the cushion they would need to find the win column for the 3rd straight night. 

Missoula would tally runs in consecutive frames from innings 5 through 7 to jump to the lead. A long home run from Adam Fogel would play a big role allowing the PaddleHeads to stretch the lead to 5. Villa would not allow a single run in his outing for Missoula. The bullpen combination of Mark Timmins, and Andrew Garcia would also hold up their end of the bargain down the stretch in 3 scoreless innings of work. The end result would be Missoula's first shutout victory of the season in a 5-0 win over the Hawks. 

The PaddleHeads offense would see 2 runners or more reach base in each of the first 4 innings offensively. Boise's starter Luke Malone found ways to work out of those jams however seeing the game remained scoreless. Josh Elvir would change that trend in the 5th. 

The 2nd year PaddleHead would get Missoula on the board on an RBI single to right to make the score 1-0. Elvir would notch 2 hits in the win finishing 2-for-5. One big swing in the inning that followed would give Missoula more than enough breathing room. 

With a pair of runners on, Fogel would launch his 2nd home run in as many nights to give the PaddleHeads a 4-0 advantage in the 6th. Fogel is currently tied for the league lead in home runs (15) and is in the top 3 in RBIs (52). Villa would make sure the Hawks bats remained in check before, and after getting support. 

Villa would hold Boise off the board in 6 fabulous innings allowing just 4 hits while striking out 8. For his efforts, the 3rd year pro would earn his 2nd win on the mound. Villa would routinely work ahead in the count in his outing with his changeup being outstanding throughout the outing. After his departure, the PaddleHeads pen would hold the Hawks offense in check. Missoula also found a little more of a cushion in the 7th. 

Roberto Pena, and Patrick Chung would both enjoy fabulous nights at the place and were key cogs in a rally in the 7th. Chung would score Missoula's 7th run of the night on a double off the bat of Pena to make the score 5-0. Chung would reach base 5 times in the win finishing 3-for-4. Pena would also reach base routinely in the contest walking 3 times in a 2-for-3 night at the plate. Timmins, and Garcia made sure there would be no drama down the stretch. 

Timmins would retire 6 batters in a row in 2 innings of work out of the bullpen to get things rolling. Garcia would appear in the 9th inning for the 2nd consecutive night and would hold Boise in check in a scoreless frame striking out 1. After shutting out an opponent for the 1st time this season, Missoula will now look to keep things rolling in game 4 of the series 

Missoula (30-9) leads the Pioneer League now by a 7 game margin with the Glacier Range Riders, and Oakland Ballers tied for 2nd place. Boise (21-18) will look to turn things around quickly in this 6-game set Friday night. Another night of action at Memorial Stadium gets rolling at 7:05 p.m. Stay locked in with all the action on 102.9 F.M. ESPN Missoula and 1029espn.com.