NORTH LITTLE ROCK, AR (August 7, 2026) -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (20-17, 56-49) fell to the Arkansas Travelers (18-19, 59-47), 4-0, on Friday night at Dickey-Stephens Park. Strikeouts were in abundance throughout the night, but it was the Travs who broke the seal and snagged the win over the Soddies to even the series.
In what could be argued to have been the premier pitching matchup of the day across the minors, David Hagaman and Kade Anderson went toe-to-toe on the Little Rock rubber as the pair of top-ranked arms combined for five strikeouts in the opening frame. Hagaman, who was making his Soddies debut, fanned two Travelers to strand a runner at second base in his first Double-A inning.
An alumnus of West Virginia University, Hagaman worked around a leadoff walk by striking out another two Arkansas batters in the second, getting an assist from Alberto Barriga behind the dish along the way who threw out Boston Smith trying to steal after drawing a leadoff walk.
The pitchers duel carried through the top of the fourth before Arkansas drew first blood in the home half. Each of the first two Travelers reached base and Hunter Fitz-Gerald scored on a Caleb Cali single to left. An error on the play allowed the runners to advance, setting up Jared Sundstrom for a sac fly to center to give the hosts a two-run advantage.
Arizona’s 3rd-ranked prospect settled back in after the two-run frame, working around two singles to strike out the side in the 5th. He brought his night on the hill to an end with 10 punchouts to his name, tying a career-best.
Anderson trotted back out to begin the sixth, but a one-out single off the bat of Cristofer Torin chased the dominant lefty from the game, opening a window for the Soddies to cut into the deficit. Torin was stranded, however, as Amarillo still sought their first run of the night.
Once the eighth rolled around, Arkansas added a pair of insurance runs via a two-run Smith home run to make it a 4-0 game. On an already dormant night for the Soddies offense, they went down in order in their final turn at-bat as the Travelers turned in their 13th shutout of the season.
POSTGAME NOTES
NO CHEATING THE HAGAMAN: Fanning 10 Arkansas batters in his Amarillo and Double-A debut tonight was Diamondbacks No. 3 prospect David Hagaman...his 10 strikeouts are the 2nd-most by a Soddie making their debut, trailing only Drey Jameson’s 11 in his debut on August 5, 2021 in a 4-3 loss to Frisco...it was the third time this year an Amarillo pitcher struck out 10 or more in a game, following a 2025 season where no Soddies pitcher reached the double-digit strikeout mark.
GRAN TORIN-O: Extending his hit streak to six games with a multi-hit performance this evening was Cristofer Torin...he is batting .333 (8x24) with five runs and an .824 OPS over this stretch (7/29-c).