Britton Fans 11 in Return to P.K. Park

EUGENE, ORE. (Sept. 2, 2026) --- Hillsboro Hops left-hander Rio Britton again appeared right at home in his old stomping grounds. Britton, back in the ballpark he called home as a freshman and sophomore in 2021-22 with the Oregon Ducks, dominated the Eugene Emeralds in a 5-2 win on Wednesday night at P.K. Park. In 6.1 innings, Britton allowed just one run on three hits and struck out 11—the most strikeouts in a single game for any Hop in 2026. He collected his eighth win of the season, matching Deyni Olivero (2019) for the most in a single year in franchise history. It was the second time this season Britton has gone six or more innings in Eugene and allowed one or fewer runs.

One night after being eliminated from playoff contention, the Hops continued their late-season surge, winning for the 10th time in their last 13 games. Hillsboro is 30-32 in the second half, and 62-66 overall. Despite the loss, Eugene (34-26 in the second half, 76-51 overall) has the eighth-best winning percentage (.598) among 120 full-season minor-league teams.

Britton struck out six batters in succession between the first and third innings, most of them on his fastball. Eugene number-nine hitter Jose Ramos homered off Britton with two out and none on in the third inning, the only run Britton allowed. He sailed through the fourth and fifth innings, but ran into problems in the sixth, issuing back-to-back walks to start the frame. A visit to the mound by pitching coach Blake Nation seemed to turn the tide, and Britton retired the next three hitters, two on strikeouts, and one on a scorching line-out to Yassel Soler at third.

After whiffing the leadoff batter in the seventh, Britton was lifted from the game.

By that point, the Hops had given him the lead. The Ems were going with a bullpen game, with reliever Ubert Mejias starting in place of injured trade acquisition Ramon Marquez. Mejias pitched admirably, allowing one run on three hits over 3.2 innings, but his replacement, Gerelmi Maldonado, was wild and ineffective. After coming in for Mejias with two out and one on in the top of the fourth, Maldonado issued three straight walks to force home the tying run. Abdias De La Cruz then singled to bring home another run and extend his hitting streak to eight games in a row.

Hillsboro plated two more runs in the fifth when Jose Mejia singled, Soler walked and Modeifi Marte doubled to left to bring them home.

Left-hander Luke Craig replaced Britton and loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh on a hit batter, a single and a walk. Up came shortstop Jhonny Level, one of the best prospects in the Giants’ chain. With the tying runs on base, Craig struck Level out on three tailing fastballs.

Hillsboro added a run in the eighth when Yerald Nin walked, advanced to second on Adrian De Leon’s ground-out, stole third base and scored on Eugene catcher Charlie Muniz’s errant throw down the left-field line.

Trailing 5-1 entering the bottom of the ninth, Eugene threatened against Joe Ariola, the Hops’ third pitcher (and third left-hander) of the night. Ariola walked Walker Martin to lead off the inning, and Hayden Jatczak and Dalton Wentz had back-to-back singles. Jakey Josepha misplayed Wentz’s base hit, allowing Martin to score and sending the other two runners to second and third with none out.

Ariola then utilized his fastball to strike out the next two hitters, bringing up Level in another key spot. Again representing the tying run, Level again struck out, this time to end the game.

It was just the Hops’ fourth win in 17 games at P.K. Park this season. Hillsboro’s trio of left-handers struck out 17 Eugene batters, matching their second-highest total of the season.

Elsewhere in the Northwest League, Vancouver wrapped up the second-half pennant with a 12-6 win at Tri-City. The Canadians will host Eugene in games one and two of the best-of-five Northwest League Championship Series on Tuesday and Wednesday September 9-10, with games three, four and five set for P.K. Park the following Friday through Sunday.

The Hops’ final road game of the season is scheduled for Thursday at 6:35PM in Eugene—weather permitting, as the forecast calls for rain at game time. Then Hillsboro returns home for the final three games of the regular season, Friday through Sunday at Hops Ballpark.

Thursday’s airtime is scheduled for 6:20PM on Rip City Radio and www.RipCityRadio.com.