SAN ANTONIO (May 8, 2026) — A packed crowd at The Wolff was treated to a hitting parade from the San Antonio Missions (9-22) against the Midland Rockhounds (20-11). A season-high six innings flew by for Ian Koenig and then the Alamo City bullpen as the Missions offense kept them from working too hard as they walloped a season-high 18 hits that scored eight runs in rout to an 8-4 win to send fans home happy with their Missions cross-body bags presented by James Avery.
Koenig looked to make up for his last performance on the road against Midland and did so by putting on a show for the Missions faithful early on as nine Rockhounds went up to bat and were easily put down. Koenig didn’t break a sweat in the opening frames, only tossing nine pitches in the first to put away the top of the order. The Northern California native followed in the next two innings by mixing in two strikeouts to put away the Midland batting order to keep The Wolff crowd rocking.
The same could not be said for the Athletics’ second ranked prospect, Jamie Arnold, as he struggled to keep the Missions off base. Arnold allowed back-to-back doubles in each of the first two innings, extending Leandro Cedeño’s on base streak to 20 games and throwing a cookie to Francisco Acuña to smash in his third double of the homestand. Acuña’s two-RBI double drove in Mission infielders Ryan Jackson and Luis Verdugo for two runs off their initial singles in the second inning. Nine hole-hitter Kai Roberts tapped a soft bunt smoothly in front to buy the speedster enough time to scramble for first safely while also advancing Acuña to third. The top of the order continued to pile it on the A’s first-round draft pick as Ethan Salas jogged to first expecting a pop out to be caught by Josh Kuroda-Grauer, only for it to be dropped to load the bases on Arnold. The 22-year-old managed to barely survive the inning with a forceout and strikeout to keep the Missions from extending their 2-0 lead.
San Antonio’s Tirso Ornelas kept the packed house jumping in the next turn for the Missions, as he knocked his first double of the series to eventually score off a Braedon Karpathios ground ball single that deflected off Arnold. The bottom of the order got the offense rolling again in consecutive innings as Verdugo rifled his second base hit of the night right back to center field and Acuña sent a dribbler to Kuroda-Grauer to barely be called out at first but advanced Karpathios and Verdugo. Roberts added by knocking in two runs off his second single, stacking up the lead 5-0 over Midland.
Kuroda-Grauer blasted his tenth double of the season in the fourth inning, and Brennan Milone hit an RBI single on Koenig to score a run for the RockHounds. Although allowing two hits, Koenig struck out Luke Mann and Brayan Buelvas to regain control. The RockHounds looked to build off the lone run inning, as Clark Elliot led off a three-run rally in the fifth with a single. Midland’s Ryan Lasko was hit by a pitch and a Cole Conn RBI double to far-right field made Koenig feel some real pressure for the first time in this contest. Back-to-back groundouts advanced a runner and scored a run before the final run was scored off a fielding error from Missions first baseman Romeo Sanabria. The three runs in the fifth against Koenig put Midland back within range as San Antonio closed out the inning with a 5-4 lead.
Acuña and the Missions punched back in the fifth. Acuña singled, Salas doubled, and Jackson singled after two intentional walks of Ornelas and Sanabria, so two runs were scored off Jared Johnson to stretch the Missions’ lead 7-4. The top of the order for the Missions rubbed salt in the wound of the RockHounds in the seventh with a final run scored off the bat of Ornelas after three singles in the inning for the lead to grow even further to the delight of many at The Wolff 8-4.
Koenig came back for his final outing of the day after a troubling fifth, and Koenig completed a hat trick on Luke Mann before setting up Elliott into a double play to reach a season high six innings off 84 pitches and five strikeouts. Missions relievers Andrew Moore and Michael Flynn took over pitching duties in the final three frames with stellar closeout performances including six strikeouts as the Missions triumphantly sent the kids to run the bases postgame after the 8-4 victory.
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Up Next:
The Missions and RockHounds continue their six-game series on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. Eric Yost (0-1, 3.27) goes against Corey Avant (0-1, 3.75). Calling all princesses! Grab your tiara and dress up for a magical night at the ballpark. Fans are encouraged to come dressed in their favorite princess attire and enjoy a royal evening of Missions baseball. The magic continues after the game with a dazzling postgame fireworks show presented by James Avery. Catch all the action on Country Legends KKYX, 680 AM, 104.9 FM and kkyx.com. Tickets are available at samissions.com or by calling 210-675-7275.