SPRINGFIELD, MO (June 13, 2026) -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (30-31) defeated the Springfield Cardinals (27-34), 6-2, on Saturday night at Route 66 Stadium. Ashton Izzi continued his recent stretch of dominance on the mound with six strong innings, while the offense created enough traffic on the bases to lead to a four-run win.
Success with the bases loaded had defined the season series between Amarillo and Springfield in 2026, which was the case for the Soddies on Saturday. The offense got to Cardinals starter Chen-Wei Lin immediately, putting three ducks on the pond with a single and two free passes in the top of the first inning.
An RBI fielder’s choice by Jansel Luis drew first blood for Amarillo while the following batter Druw Jones stayed hot with a run-scoring single to the opposite field to double the Sod Poodles lead. Jones created more havoc for the offense, this time on the basepaths as the Cardinals failed to properly defend his steal of second base, leading the throw from Ryan Campos to go into center field and allow the third run of the frame to score.
Springfield got a run back on a Trey Paige solo home run in the bottom of the second, which the Sod Poodles gained right back a half inning later when Gavin Conticello drew a walk with the bases loaded.
Amarillo’s inclination to create traffic on the bases continued even as Springfield went to the bullpen, with Cardinals reliever Andrew Schultz hitting a batter and walking two more. Gavin Logan made it a fourth straight free pass issued by Schultz to make it 5-1 Amarillo, which was followed up by a perfectly-placed RBI single by Jack Hurley to increase the lead to five.
On the other side, Izzi was otherwise great besides the one big mistake made to Paige, as the No. 18 Diamondbacks prospect would turn in a quality start. Over his six frames of one-run ball, Izzi stranded runners in scoring position in each of his last three innings of work to keep Springfield at just one run, limiting the Cardinals to six hits and one walk.
As Izzi gave way to reliever Casey Anderson for the bottom of the seventh inning, Springfield got a run back thanks to a solo home run from Jon Jon Gazdar. However, Anderson bounced back from being roughed up on Tuesday to pitch a solid two innings out of the bullpen and struck out three. Landon Sims put on the finishing touches in the ninth, posting a scoreless inning to complete Amarillo’s 30th win of the season.
POSTGAME NOTES
H TO THE IZZI: Ashton Izzi continued his recent stretch of dominance by tying the longest outing by a Soddies pitcher in 2026 with his six-inning quality start...over his last four starts, the right-hander has posted a 1.50 ERA (3 ER/18.0 IP).
WHAT CONTI DO?: Gavin Conticello’s walk with the bases loaded in the top of the third inning gave him 13 RBI against Springfield this season...the total matches Manuel Pena for the most against one opponent (NWA) this year...Conticello has played in three fewer games against the Cardinals (8) than Pena did against the Naturals (11).