YUBA CITY, CA (MPG) - The Yuba City Honkers’ baseball team tied the season series with the Roseville Tigers as they had an explosive first inning in their 13-6 Capital Valley Conference win over Roseville on Friday, March 24.

The consistent bangs of the ball of the Yuba City bats sounded like a symphony that was going on all night.

Honkers head coach Maury Castaneda expressed to the Dispatch the hitting has been there all season but they just have been unlucky with where they have been hitting the ball.

“We’ve played some great teams and today we were able to break out,” Castaneda said.

Yuba City had 10 hits in the game and three Honkers had two or more hits in the game.

Yuba City senior pitcher C.J. Hopper won the game and pitched 3.1 and gave up three hits, six runs, six walks and struck out one. Hopper also helped himself at the plate as he went three-for-three with four RBIs that included a bases-clearing double in the first inning to cap-off their big eight-run first inning.

Castaneda was sure to express that Roseville is still an elite team as they beat them 8-1 in the first game of the series last Thursday.

The Honkers (5-4, 3-2 CVC) dugout was electric after the first inning, but it also sparked defensive plays that would be made for SportsCenter top 10, including a diving catch made by Yuba City senior Payton Buttacavoli in foul territory.

Castaneda exclaimed to the Dispatch the importance and value of a league series and how it is important to chip away and try and win the league games in the CVC.

“Winning a series is paramount,” Castaneda told the Dispatch. “If we get two out of three, that means the other team is down 1-2 on the week.”

The Honkers won their series last week against Inderkum and have the momentum going into the rubber match.

Roseville (5-3, 3-2 CVC) gained some momentum off Hopper in the second inning as they got two of the runs back off a couple walks.

Yuba City responded with two runs each in the second and third inning. Other breakout hitters on the night for the Honkers included senior outfielder and California State University-Sacramento commit Brent Gallegos, who went two-for-four and junior outfielder Kaedin Bulock, who went three-for-four with 5 RBIs on the night.

“Today, I was able to just take a deep-breath and relax in the box,” Bulock mentioned to the Dispatch.

Bulock added the eight runs in the first inning gave Yuba City the momentum at the beginning of the game and it never left the dugout throughout the night.

The Tigers gained some momentum that wasn’t fully alarming for the overall outcome of the game in the top of the fourth as they scored four runs. Castaneda brought in senior pitcher Cole Barrie to relieve Hopper and Barrie delivered and gave the Honkers the win.

Barrie pitched 3.2 innings of shutout ball and struck out four in his relief appearance.

“I trusted my stuff and all the work I did in the bullpen,” Barrie said.

Yuba City hosted Roseville this past Monday for the rubber match of their series and were scheduled to travel and begin their three-game series with Antelope on Tuesday pending weather conditions.