Tulsa, OK – For the second consecutive night, it took ten innings to decide a winner between the Tulsa Drillers and Amarillo Sod Poodles at ONEOK Field, but unlike the night before, the outcome fell the other way for the Drillers. After Tulsa’s dramatic walk-off home run from Josue De Paula on Tuesday, pitching controlled Wednesday’s matchup as the two teams carried a 1-1 tie into the tenth inning. The Sod Poodles eventually broke the deadlock with a three-run tenth that included a two-run homer, and defeated the Drillers 4-1.
The loss dropped Tulsa one game back of first-place Springfield in the second-half North Division standings of the Texas League, as the Cardinals defeated Arkansas.
Tulsa also remains four wins shy of matching the all-time franchise record of 78 wins in a season set by the 1998 and 2019 teams.
Amarillo’s lone run through the first nine innings came in the top of the first when Avery Owusu-Asiedu hit a two-out, solo home run off Zach Root.
The Drillers had some help from the Sod Poodles in tying the game in the fourth inning. Kole Myers was at first base when Amarillo pitcher David Hagaman failed on a second pickoff attempt, allowing Myer to take second on a disengagement violation. After a wild pitch, Myers scored on Elijah Hainline’s sacrifice fly to tie the score at 1-1.
Root’s night ended after four innings and 75 pitches in what was his fourth start with the Drillers. His final line was one run allowed on five hits and three walks with three strikeouts in his second straight no decision.
Pitching controlled the game over the next five innings. Carson Hobbs was first out of Tulsa’s bullpen and worked an impressive three scoreless innings and struck out two Amarillo hitters. Jacob Kmatz followed Hobbs in the eighth and retired the Sod Poodles to keep the score tied.
On the other side, Hagaman and relievers Josh Grosz, Tayler Montiel and Sawyer Hawks combined to keep Tulsa from scoring again across the next four frames.
Kmatz returned for the top of the ninth and retired Amarillo to give the Drillers their second straight walk-off opportunity.
Tulsa was unable to end the game in the bottom of the ninth, going down in order on a groundout, a strikeout and a flyout to send the game to extras.
In the tenth, Amarillo broke the scoreless stretch when Junior Franco’s double scored the placed runner and Trent Youngblood’s two-run homer put the Sod Poodles in front 4-1.
The Drillers were unable to match the Sod Poodles in the bottom half after a one-out walk put the tying run at the plate. Tulsa’s comeback fell short as Hainline and Logan Wagner struck out to end the game.
GAME NOTES
*The Drillers missed many opportunities as they stranded 13 runners on base and were 0-12 with runners in scoring position.
*Kelvin Ramirez was the pitcher of record for the second straight game. He was charged with Amarillo’s three runs in the tenth and the loss dropped his season record to 6-3.
*With his scoreless outing, Kmatz continued his scoreless stretch since joining Tulsa on August 3 after being acquired in a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays. The Oregon State product has not given up a run in five appearances and 7.2 innings for the Drillers.
*In his first game behind the plate since returning from Triple-A Oklahoma City, catcher Griffin Lockwood-Powell threw out three runners on the base paths.
UP NEXT
The Drillers and Sod Poodles will play the third game of their six-game series on Thursday night at ONEOK Field. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. and the pitching matchup is slated to be:
Amarillo – LHP Avery Short (4-2, 4.32 ERA)
Tulsa – RHP Aiden Foeller (0-1, 1.46 ERA)