Wisconsin native Caleb Boushley will get the ball for the Missions Thursday night as they try to rebound from their first loss. In the Missions’ third game of the season, set for Whataburger Field in Corpus Christi, Boushley is expected to start against lefty Jonathan Bermudez of the Hooks.

It’s a big day for Boushley, 27, a 33rd-round draft pick of the San Diego Padres in 2017, who has won an opening-day roster spot at the Double-A level of the minors for the first time in his career.

He has pitched almost entirely at the Class A level since he was drafted in 2017 out of NCAA Division III Wisconsin-LaCrosse. In his last full season, pre-pandemic, Boushley was named a midseason all star at Lake Elsinore in the Class A California League.

Boushley went on to finish the season 5-4 with a 3.61 earned run average. Last year, he thought he would get a chance to pitch for the Padres in Double-A Amarillo. But that day never came as the season was scrapped by the pandemic.

Instead, he returned home to Hortonville, Wis., to live with his parents. During the summer, he played catch on a tennis court with a teammate to try and stay sharp, according to the LaCrosse Tribune.

J.P. France fanned 11 in a 17-strikeout showing by the Hooks Wednesday night, leading to a 4-2 victory over the visiting Missions.

After France worked six innings, Enoli Paredes and Hunter Peck finished off a dominant performance. Together, the three allowed only four hits.

The Missions produced 13 hits in winning the opener, 8-3, on Tuesday night.

Grae Kessinger, the grandson of former Cubs star Don Kessinger, bashed a two-run homer off Missions left-hander Jerry Keel in the bottom of the sixth for a 3-2 Hooks lead. They added an insurance run in the eighth on an RBI double by Corey Julks, formerly of Clear Brook High School and the University of Houston.

Louisiana native Robbie Podorsky slapped a two-run single, his fifth hit in in two games, to give the Missions a 2-1 lead in the fifth.

It’s the first series of the season between the Hooks, affiliated with the Houston Astros, and the Missions, who are linked this year with the San Diego Padres. The series is six games and will run through Sunday.

Records

Corpus Christi 1-1
San Antonio 1-1

Coming up

Caleb Boushley pitching for San Antonio at Corpus Christi, with lefty Jonathan Bermudez, Thursday, 6:35 p.m.