AMARILLO, TX (May 24, 2026) -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (23-21) defeated the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (22-22), 17-5, on Sunday afternoon at HODGETOWN in the continuation of a suspended game from Saturday night. The home squad was defeated in the originally scheduled Sunday afternoon game by a score of 8-6 to split the series.
SUSPENDED GAME
In the action that began Saturday night, the Naturals scratched the first run of the game in the second inning, doing so on a Connor Scott single to left field. Amarillo fought back in the home half, posting a four-run frame that was kicked off by Danny Serretti driving in the tying run with an opposite field single.
With the infield drawn in to cut the run, Gavin Logan chopped one to the right side of the infield, but an errant throw by the second baseman on a play at the plate allowed the go-ahead run to score on the fielder’s choice. Junior Franco contributed with a sacrifice fly to deep right field and was followed immediately after by an Angel Ortiz RBI single to cap the fourth-inning scoring.
Another run-scoring knock would be collected by Scott in the top of the fourth before the game was suspended due to heavy rain in the area, scheduled for continuation at 1:05 p.m. the following afternoon.
While the Soddies were held in check in the home fourth in the resumption, they increased their advantage in the fifth with a Jean Walters RBI knock, but were quickly matched by a Northwest Arkansas run credited to the bat of Jorge Alfaro.
The Soddies then exploded in the sixth inning with a five-run frame that featured six consecutive Soddies reaching base, five via base hit. Featured among the contributors in the sixth were Manuel Pena and Ben McLaughlin who drove in runs in back-to-back plate appearances, but Serretti brought the thunder with a three-run bomb to bring the Amarillo run total to 10.
The scorching hot Sod Poodles rolled the momentum over into another productive frame where home runs off the bats of Franco, Pena, and Walters made up a seven-run seventh inning. The seven runs and the seven hits collected were both season-highs for a single inning.
Only two more runs would come across for Northwest Arkansas as each of their first two batters reached base to open the ninth. With a comfortable 17-5 lead, Alfred Morillo closed the door to secure the lopsided suspended game.
SUSPENDED POSTGAME NOTES
HITTING IS CONTAGIOUS: Everyone in Amarillo’s batting order recorded a hit...it is the second time the Soddies have accomplished this feat this season, most recently doing so on April 23 at San Antonio.
BOMBS AWAY: Amarillo tallied three home runs in the seven-run seventh inning...it is the most they have recorded in a single inning and the first time since June 27, 2025 they have hit at least that many in one frame, smashing four in the third inning against Arkansas...Manuel Pena belted a home run in each of those innings.
GAME TWO
Fresh off a 17-5 drubbing earlier in the afternoon, Northwest Arkansas scored first on Jack Pineda’s solo home run in the top of the second inning. The Naturals padded their lead with a four-run fifth inning as the Sod Poodles dug into their bullpen, capped off by a two-run homer by Spencer Nivens.
On the other side, Northwest Arkansas southpaw Frank Mozzicato turned in his longest outing for the season and struck out a season-high eight batters, but the Amarillo offense was still able to create scoring chances against the former first round pick.
The Soddies stranded a pair of baserunners in the bottom of the second and fourth innings, but were able to cash in as Mozzicato’s pitch count crept above 90 for the first time this year. With two on and two out in the fifth, Jansel Luis got Amarillo back into the game with a three-run home run to right field on the left-hander’s last pitch of the day.
The Naturals would get a run back in the next frame on a Connor Scott RBI single, but their lead would not last long with Mozzicato out of the game. Back-to-back singles by Junior Franco and Angel Ortiz brought Luis back to the plate in the sixth, this time as a lefty against Augusto Mendieta. The switch-hitter didn’t miss a center-cut fastball and deposited the pitch over the left-center field wall for a game-tying three-run shot.
With the game completely flipped on its head, Amarillo called on Landon Sims to give the hosts a chance for a walk-off win. Nivens would make that plan more difficult to achieve, as he found the jet stream above left field and put the Naturals in front with a go-ahead two-run homer for his second long ball of the day.
Amarillo brought the tying run to the plate in the home half of the seventh, but a double play aided by runner’s interference ended the game.
GAME TWO NOTES
LUIS YOURSELF: On top of his six-RBI performance, switch-hitter Jansel Luis recorded a home run from both sides of the plate...the last Amarillo hitter to do so was Drew Stankiewicz on July 15, 2022 vs. San Antonio.
ROMAN EMPIRE: Roman Angelo made his second start of the season for Amarillo on Sunday...he was effective over 4.0 innings pitched, his longest outing of the minor league season...Angelo gave up just one run on one hit, striking out five and walked none.