AMARILLO, TX (July 10, 2026) -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (8-8, 44-40) defeated the Arkansas Travelers (7-9, 48-37), 8-3, on Friday night at HODGETOWN. In front of a sold-out crowd for Christmas In July at the ballpark, the hosts put together a full-team effort to earn their third victory in as many days.
It only took two pitches for Arkansas to scratch the evening’s first run, doing so on a Charlie Pagliarini solo blast to left-center for his 17th blast of the year and the 1-0 Travs lead. Amarillo responded quickly to even the score as they put together a two-out rally. Doubling to left on a 1-1 count was Demetrio Crisantes who then scored easily on a Jansel Luis single to center, knotting the game at one.
Atop the slab for the Sod Poodles was Daniel Eagen who worked quickly in the second, fanning two Arkansas batters in the inning to keep the contest tied.
Bill Knight would put another notch in the run column for Arkansas in the third as the center fielder scored after doubling to lead off the inning and later scoring on a Hunter Fitz-Gerald sacrifice fly.
The Amarillo response was once again immediate as Junior Franco banged one off the left field foul pole to get things started in the home third. Druw Jones kept the momentum going as he followed up Franco with a single and then stole second and third base on back-to-back pitches. The center fielder sprinted home on a Crisantes sac fly to left, giving Amarillo the lead.
Luis checked in with his second knock of the evening in the third to put runners on the corners for Gavin Conticello who grounded out to second, allowing Cristofer Torin to scored the final run of the inning to make it a 4-2 ballgame.
While the Travelers cut into the deficit by plating a run on a Josh Hood double in the fourth, Amarillo extended their advantage to three runs on Luis’ two-run blast to left-center, giving the switch hitter a baker’s dozen in the home run department for the year.
Eagen rolled on into the sixth on the mound for Amarillo and fanned the side, bringing his strikeout total for the night to seven to cap his quality start. Franco rewarded the starter’s efforts by hitting his second home run of the game to lead off the home sixth, making it 7-3 in favor of the Soddies. Torin doubled up the bomb with a solo shot of his own, sending it 426 feet beyond the left field fence.
The bullpen duo of Dawson Brown and Alfred Morillo combined for three scoreless inning of relief to keep the Arkansas bats at bay, completing the 8-3 win for Amarillo, their third in a row.
POSTGAME NOTES
LUIS YOURSELF: Jansel Luis has now homered in three of the first four games of this series on top of driving in three runs and extending his team lead in stolen bases by swiping his 20th bag of the season tonight...since June 30, Luis is batting .412 (14x34) with 5 XBH, 10 RBI, and a 1.265 OPS...his nine-game on-base streak is the longest active stretch on the Sod Poodles.
FRANCO, MY DEAR...: Going deep twice this evening was Junior Franco...it is the fifth multi-homer game of his professional career...he is the second Sod Poodle this season with a multi-homer game when hitting out of the ninth spot in the order (Logan, 3 HR, 5/9 vs. WCH) and is only the fourth nine-hole hitter with 2+ home runs in a game in club history.