CORPUS CHRISTI, TX (July 25, 2026) -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (12-14, 48-46) fell to the Corpus Christi Hooks (14-12, 45-50), 2-0, on Saturday night at Whataburger Field. Amarillo could not overcome Bryce Mayer and the Corpus Christi bullpen as they suffered a shutout loss for the second consecutive game.
Soddies starter Daniel Eagen entered his third start of the season against the Hooks allowing just one run over his first eight innings pitched. Walker Janek matched that total in the bottom of the second inning, hammering a breaking ball over the fence in center field to open the scoring with a solo home run.
Corpus Christi’s Yamal Encarnacion manufactured a run for his team in his next turn to bat in the third, first winning an eight-pitch battle with Eagen by dumping a base hit just in front of Jakey Josepha in center field. After being caught stealing on his first try of the night, Encarnacion successfully stole second, which set him up to score easily on Trevor Austin’s RBI single.
The Hooks made the most of their limited chances against Eagen, who was otherwise dominant throughout his five-inning start. The Diamondbacks No. 5 prospect had every pitch in his arsenal working and showed it by fanning nine hitters en route to tallying 10 total strikeouts.
However, Mayer out-dueled Eagen, prolonging Amarillo’s offensive struggles from Friday’s doubleheader. The right-hander allowed just three hits and one walk, and matched Springfield’s Mason Molina for the most strikeouts by an individual pitcher in one game with nine.
Scoring chances were few and far between for the Soddies, who went 1-for-3 with runners in scoring position. Angel Ortiz smashed a double off the base of the center field wall for Amarillo’s first hit of the night in the top of the fourth, but could not advance any further. Two innings later, Junior Franco stole third base with two outs in the Sod Poodles best opportunity of the game, but Mayer ended his night with his ninth and final strikeout of the game.
The Hooks opted for the bullpen for their final nine outs, with Nic Swanson tossing a perfect seventh and eighth innings. He handed the ball to Alex Santos for the save in the top of the ninth, where Cristofer Torin brought the tying run to the plate after drawing a two-out walk in the form of Ortiz, who flew out to deep center field for the final out.
The Soddies will turn to southpaw Avery Short in Sunday’s series finale, looking to leave Corpus Christi with a series split and a record-setting seventh win at Whataburger Field for the season.
POSTGAME NOTES
EAGEN-KEELED: Daniel Eagen struck out 10 Hooks batters tonight, tying the most in a game for him this season...he is the first Soddies pitcher to record multiple 10+ strikeout games since Yilber Diaz in 2024 on May 2 and May 8 of that season.
LESS THAN ZERO: The Soddies 16-inning scoreless streak since the start of game two of Friday’s doubleheader ties the longest of the season for the club...the first streak started in the eighth inning on July 2 and ended in the sixth inning of their July 4 game at San Antonio...the last time Amarillo was shut out in consecutive games was from May 3-4 in 2024 in a series vs. Midland.