SPRINGFIELD, MO (June 12, 2026) -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (29-31) fell to the Springfield Cardinals (27-33), 18-3, on Friday night. Following two straight days where the bats were hot in Sod Poodle hands, the story of Friday’s contest flipped in favor of Springfield as they evened the series.
The Soddies went down quickly in the first two frames to open play, suffering an inning-ending double play and going down in order - all on strikes - in the second. Dakota Harris took advantage in the bottom of the second by launching a one-out, two-run blast to left fielder to give the Cardinals the early edge.
An unusual sequence in the third allowed the Soddies to cut into the deficit. With Gavin Logan standing on second base, the Springfield right fielder tossed the ball back to the infield on Jansel Luis’ flyout and the errant throw ended up out of play, allowing Logan to score.
Braden Davis continued to carve up Amarillo hitters, picking up another pair of strikeouts in the fourth inning, paving the way for Jose Cordoba to welcome new Soddies pitcher Dawson Brown to the game in the bottom of the fifth with a solo shot to extend the Cardinals’ advantage. Two more runs came across on an error as part of a three-run inning for the hosts.
Manuel Pena would not be deterred by the undertaking as he pumped a solo home to right field, his 26th of the year, to keep hope alive for the Soddies.
A five-run frame by the Cardinals in the sixth however created significant distance between the two sides as Springfield plated their quintet of runs on a wild pitch, a Cordoba RBI single, and a Miguel Ugueto bases-clearing double.
With Logan aboard once more and Jean Walters at the dish, the switch-hitting second baseman who was today activated off the injured list roped a double down the right field line to bring home Amarillo’s third run of the night.
Springfield carried their momentum over from the sixth to add another three runs, doing so all in one swing by Jon Jon Gazdar to make it a 13-3 ballgame. Not one inning later, another crooked number was posted by the Cardinals in the eighth before the game came to a merciful end, 18-3.
RHP Ashton Izzi toes the rubber for the Sod Poodles tomorrow night as the Soddies look to get back in the win column against Springfield.
POSTGAME NOTES
HOUSE OF PENA: Slugging his 26th home run of the year this evening was Manuel Pena...it was his 40th career long ball as a Sod Poodle, ranking 5th all-time...it is also now the second-most homers hit by a Sod Poodle in a single season and needs only four more dingers to match Leandro Cedeno’s franchise-record 30 swatted in 2022.
JEAN POOL: Fresh off the injured list, Jean Walters collected an RBI on a double down the right field line tonight...in 11 games with the Soddies this year, he is batting .282 (11x39) with 11 RBI and a 1.019 OPS.