Lake Elsinore's Joe Urso, the hero of the California-Carolina League All-Star Game last month, continued to haunt the Lancaster JetHawks, slamming two home runs in a 12-4 Storm victory Tuesday night at The Hangar.
Urso gained notoriety at the all-star game when the utility infielder retired the side in order as a pitcher in the 11th inning of what turned out to be a 2-2 tie.
But he's more known with his bat against the JetHawks. Of Urso's six homers this season, three have come against Lancaster.
JetHawks manager Dave Brundage referred to him as "Babe Urso" earlier this season.
Urso "hit .700 against us last year," when he managed the Riverside Pilots, Brundage said.
The trend continues.
Urso hit his first homer in the first to start a three-run Storm rally.
After Urso's homer made it 1-0, Greg Wooten (2-1) walked Danny Buxbaum and Todd Takayoshi ripped a drive over the left field fence for his sixth homer.
The JetHawks cut the lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the first thanks to wildness by Lake Elsinore starter Josh Deakman.
With one out and runners on first and second, Deakman threw a wild pitch that allowed Jason Cook to move to third.
Deakman threw another wild pitch that allowed Cook to score, and Deakman walked Doug Carroll and Carlos Villalobos with two outs to load the bases.
James Clifford grounded out to Deakman, however, to end the threat.
After Wooten settled down over the next two innings, Jason Herrick led off the fourth with his second homer, also to left field, to make it 4-1.
The Storm broke it open in the fifth, taking a 9-1 lead and driving Wooten from the game.
Urso led off with his second homer, the 13th homer for Urso in his five-year minor league career.
Buxbaum singled and Takayoshi doubled off the increasingly ineffective Wooten.
After Chris Smith hit a sacrifice fly that made it 6-1, Brundage ordered Wooten to intentionally walk Herrick to face Brett Hemphill, who entered the game with a .234 average.
Hemphill responded with his ninth homer of the season, a drive off the scoreboard in left field, extending the Storm lead to 9-1.
Hemphill was the last batter Wooten faced. He left after giving up nine earned runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings.
Deakman (7-7) only had one inning in which he retired the side in order - the third.
But he pitched well with runners on base, getting out of jams in the second and fifth before the JetHawks broke through in the sixth.
Villalobos led off with his fourth homer and Dusty Wathan and Mike Lanza hit back-to-back singles with one out.
Deakman left and was relieved by left-hander Jason Hill. Shane Monahan extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a drive just beyond the reach of center fielder Randy Betten that scored both runners and made it 9-4.