CORPUS CHRISTI (JUNE 18, 2026) — The San Antonio Missions used three home runs to earn an 11-7 victory over the Corpus Christi Hooks on Thursday night at Whataburger Field.
The offense started early, with the Missions taking a 2-0 lead in the first. Romeo Sanabria doubled with two outs, before Tirso Ornelas ripped a two-run homer to right-center.
Corpus Christi got a run back in their first trip to the plate, as Lucas Spence homered off Jagger Haynes.
The Hooks then put together three runs in the third to take a 4-2 lead. Yamal Encarnacion doubled and scored on Spence’s second blast of the night. Drew Brutcher added a solo home run two batters later.
San Antonio then began a stretch where they scored in four straight frames.
In the fourth, Luis Verdugo drove in Sanabria with a two-out RBI double.
The Missions then took a 6-5 lead in the fifth. After a Ryan Jackson single and Francisco Acuña walk, Sanabria launched a three-run homer to put San Antonio in front. Sanabria finished 3-for-4 with four runs scored and three RBIs, reaching base safely four times.
In the sixth, Verdugo hit a two-run homer to left, putting his team ahead 8-5. The Missions third baseman finished with three RBIs in the contest.
San Antonio made it 10-5 in the seventh. Acuna scored on an error by Hooks second baseman Trevor Austin, before Kai Murphy notched an RBI single.
Corpus Christi cut the Missions lead to 10-7 in the seventh, but that is the closest they came.
After Murphy picked up his second RBI in the ninth, Omar Cruz shut the door on the mound for San Antonio to seal an 11-7 victory. Cruz tossed two scoreless innings with three strikeouts.
The left-hander has now allowed just two earned runs in his last 19.1 innings with 35 strikeouts.
Up Next:
The Missions continue their series Friday with the Corpus Christi Hooks at Whataburger Field. First pitch on Thursday is at 7:05 p.m. Catch all the action on Country Legends KKYX, 680 AM, 104.9 FM and kkyx.com.