AMARILLO, TX (June 7, 2026) -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (27-29) fell to the Tulsa Drillers (37-20), 7-6, in the completion of the suspended game from Saturday night, and 7-1 in seven innings on Sunday afternoon at HODGETOWN. In the game that began on Saturday night and was suspended due to inclement weather, the hosts dropped a heart-breaker in the final frame of the continued game and went silent in game two, dropping the series five games to one to the Drillers.
Ashton Izzi got off to a good start on the hill for the Sod Poodles on Saturday night, working around a one-out walk in the first inning by catching the next two Tulsa batters looking at strike three.
The top of the second inning was not as favorable to Amarillo however as Jake Gelof checked into the game with a two-run blast off the left field foul pole. As the game turned to the bottom of the second, Demetrio Crisantes earned a walk as the last batter before the game went into delay and eventual suspension because of inclement weather in the area.
With action resuming on Sunday afternoon, a two-out Druw Jones double to right field was followed by a Gavin Conticello single through the left side of the infield, putting the Soddies on the board to cut the deficit in half.
The Drillers tacked on another pair of runs not long after, using a Zyhir Hope two-run shot that gave Tulsa a 4-1 lead. Gavin Logan responded by smacking a one-out single to left in the bottom of the fifth, setting the table for Ben McLaughlin who sent a ball deep to right field, landing one on the berm to bring Amarillo back within one of the two-run blast.
Amarillo continued to rally with Cristofer Torin walking immediately afterwards and Manuel Pena unloading on the 2-1 pitch to clear the berm in right field and put the home squad in front. The Soddies added one more to cap the five-run fifth inning, using a Jones base knock to make it a 6-4 ballgame in favor of the hosts.
Dawson Brown made his Double-A debut for the Sod Poodles in relief, tossing three innings from the fifth through the seventh while keeping Tulsa out of the hit column in those frames. Landon Sims came on to pitch for the eighth and needed only seven pitches for the three-up, three-down inning to keep the Amarillo two-run advantage intact.
Down to their last strike in the ninth however, Mike Sirota belted a go-ahead three-run homer the opposite way and the Soddies were held scoreless in their final turn at-bat, falling by a 7-6 score.
SUSPENDED GAME NOTES
HOUSE OF PENA: Slugging his Minor League Baseball-leading 23rd home run of the year in the suspended game was Manuel Pena...he now moves into sole possession of 4th for most homers in a single season in club history...he needs only seven more homers to match Leandro Cedeno’s franchise record of 30 (2022).
DAWSON’S CREEK: Making his Sod Poodles debut this afternoon was Dawson Brown...the righty became the first reliever in club history to post three or more hitless innings in their Amarillo debut.
GAME TWO
The Amarillo sticks got right to work to kick things off in the opening frame of the series finale after Cristofer Torin singled and Demetrio Crisantes walked. As Jansel Luis stepped up to the plate, he doubled off the left-center field wall to bring Torin across and give Amarillo the early lead.
Following a scoreless second inning, Tulsa fought back with a three-run third inning that was kicked off by a two-run Zyhir Hope double to put the Drillers in front. Jake Gelof checked in with a sacrifice fly down the right field line to extend the Tulsa lead and cap the scoring for the inning.
Things looked promising for Amarillo in the fourth when Ben McLaughlin led off the home half with a single, but three Soddies were retired on strike three, keeping the hosts off the board.
The visitors plated another pair an inning later, using a two-run shot off the bat of the Dodger’s top-ranked prospect, Josue De Paula. Tulsa continued their streak of consecutive multi-run innings into the fifth as Hope produced two more runs to add to his ledger, doing so on a home run to left field.
Despite surrendering a leadoff walk, Alfred Morillo was able to induce a smooth ground ball double play of the 5-6-3 variety on his way to posting a scoreless sixth inning.
With one away in the bottom of the seventh, Danny Serretti roped a double off the top of the wall in left field to give Amarillo a last ditch attempt to scratch some runs in their final turn at the plate, but he would serve as the only baserunner in the inning and the Sod Poodles fell by a 7-1 score in the finale.
GAME TWO NOTES
NICE DEMET YOU: Reaching base safely in the series finale was Demetrio Crisantes, going 0-for-1 at the dish with a pair of walks...in his first five games as a Sod Poodle, he is batting .313 (5x16) with four runs, seven walks, a .522 OBP and a .967 OPS.
GRAN TORIN-O: Since May 15, Cristofer Torin is batting .312 (24x77) with 10 XBH, nine RBI, and an .888 OPS...over the 18-game hot stretch, he has not gone back-to-back games without a hit.