Brazos Valley Bank Ballpark was rocking and rolling again tonight, as the Bombers kicked off their 2009 home opener. With over 1200 fans on hand for Cashback Tuesday, the excitement of summer baseball is back in the air! Danny Hernandez hit the first ever home-opening home run at BVB Ballpark, but the Bombers fell to the McKinney Marshals 8-2.

The Bombers struggled to put runners on base early on and the Marshals slowly mounted a 6-0 lead behind five hits and two Bombers’ errors. Travis Smith, who pitched three perfect innings in the first game of the season, struck out five in four innings, but gave up six runs as the Bombers fell behind early.

As a part of Cashback Tuesday, fans had a chance to win a $100 bill each inning in a variety of ways. Immediately after announcing that a fan would win $100 if a home run was hit in the 5th inning, Danny Hernandez hit a rocket to left field, over the Coufal Prater sign for a home run. The blast was the first-ever opening night home run by the Bombers and gave the Bombers some hope.

Brett Parsons followed up the homer with a frozen rope line drive up the middle for a single. After Joe Craven popped out, Andre Rodriguez singled and John Cannon walked to load the bases. Robby Graham followed up with an RBI single to score Parsons to cut the lead to 6-2. The Marshals were able to avoid any further damage, however, as they struck out the final two hitters to get out of the inning, leaving the bases loaded.

McKinney was able to tack on two more runs in the following innings to cement their lead at 8-2, which is how the game came to an end.

The Bombers joined up with Conoco Phillips to make a charitable donation of nearly $400 to United Way. Conoco enjoyed a company picnic before the game on the party deck and made a donation of $3 per person in attendance.

Opening week continues tomorrow as former Texas A&M football coach Jackie Sherrill will be throwing out the first pitch during Wednesday’s $2 Margarita night, which precedes the fan-favorite $1 Beer Thirsty Thursday night. Fireworks Friday wraps up the week, as fans will have the opportunity to enjoy a fireworks show immediately following the game. The Texas Touring Ts Club will be making a special appearance Friday as well, providing fans with a opportunity to see several original Model-T cars, which will be at the ballpark for the game.