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08/17/2008 12:32 AM ET
Ronick, Volcanoes one-hit Indians
Giants prospect remains unbeaten following six-inning stint
By Alan Friedman / Special to MLB.com
Salem-Keizer's Ari Ronick has allowed two earned runs or fewer in five of his last six starts. (portlandpilots.com)

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Ari Ronick hasn't made many mistakes since he was selected by the San Francisco Giants in June in the First-Year Player Draft. He made just one on Saturday night.

The 22-year-old left-hander teamed with two relievers on a one-hitter as the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes shut down the Spokane Indians, 3-1, at Volcanoes Stadium.

Ronick (4-0), a 12th-round pick out of Portland University, yielded one run on one hit -- a fifth-inning homer by Jason Ogata -- while fanning four and walking one over six innings. He remained unbeaten as a professional and lowered his ERA to 3.04.

Daniel Runzler struck out two and walked two over two innings and Edwin Quirarte tossed a perfect ninth for his 11th save, which ranks second in the Northwest League.

"That's a nice 1-2-3 punch," Salem-Keizer manager Tom Trebelhorn said. "It's hard to lose a one-hitter."

Making his ninth start and 13th appearance of the season, Ronick retired 13 of the first 14 batters before Ogata took him deep.

"He's done a good job for us every time out," Trebelhorn said. "He's very intelligent, has three pitches he can command and can get his off-speed pitches over anytime. That helps him battle his way out of situations. Tonight, he had one bad pitch when he left an off-speed pitch up in the zone.

"He was able to keep his fastball away from right-handed hitters and did a good job mixing in his change and curve."

Trebelhorn called Runzler and Quirarte "very dependable," adding, "Runzler's 13th hold was just as critical as Quirarte's 11th save."

The Volcanoes (33-26) snapped a scoreless tie in the third on a run-scoring single by Mike Loberg. who leads the league with 44 RBIs. Caleb Curry added an RBI double in the fourth and Vladimir Frias capped the scoring with a sacrifice fly.

Starter Neil Ramirez (1-1) struggled with his control for Spokane (39-20). He gave up one run on three hits and five walks with two strikeouts over 2 2/3 innings.

Alan Friedman is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.