Midland, TX – The Tulsa Drillers are still two weeks away from starting play in the Texas League playoffs, but Saturday night in Midland, Texas, they staged a back-and-forth battle with the RockHounds that resembled a playoff matchup. The Drillers spotted the RockHounds a four-run lead before scoring five straight runs to go in front only to see the RockHounds respond to tie the game and send it into extra innings.
The two teams traded runs in the tenth inning before the Drillers erupted for four runs in the top of the eleventh and gained a hard-earned 10-6 victory at Momentum Bank Ballpark.
It was a history matching win for the Drillers. It was their 78th victory of the season, matching the franchise record for most wins in a season. The 1998 and 2019 Drillers teams also won 78 games. There are still 13 games remaining in the 2026 regular season.
The RockHounds took an early lead in the contest by scoring two runs in both the second and third innings to take a 4-0 lead.
The Drillers answered with two runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth to tie the score at 4-4. The two runs in the fourth came on a two-run homer from Elijah Hainline.
The two-run fifth began with a double from Josue De Paula and a base hit by Kole Myers that put runners at first and third. De Paula scored on a sacrifice fly from Jake Gelof to cut the deficit to one. A one-out single by Griffin Lockwood-Powell plated Myers to tie the score at 4-4.
The Drillers missed a chance to go in front when they loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the sixth, but Gelof popped out and Lockwood-Powell and Chris Newell both struck out to keep the score tied.
Gelof atoned for his missed opportunity when he belted his 28th home run of the season with one out in the top of the eighth to give Tulsa its first lead.
The RockHounds answered in the bottom of the eighth with three straight singles off reliever Jacob Kmatz that plated the run that tied the score at 5-5. Kmatz escaped a bases-loaded jam to keep the score even.
It remained tied until the top of the tenth when Griffin Lockwood Powell’s single scored placed runner De Paula to put the Drillers back in front, but the RockHounds answered by scoring the tying run in the bottom of the tenth on a ground ball double play.
The eleventh inning opened with an error from the RockHounds before placed runner Logan Wagner scored on a fielder’s choice grounder from Jose Izarra to give the Drillers another lead.
Taylor Young followed with a run-scoring double before Gelof struck again with a two-run single that put Tulsa in front 10-6.
Lucas Wepf worked around a pair of walks in the bottom of the eleventh to close out the victory that took over four hours to complete.
GAME NOTES
*Gelof’s 28 home runs tie him for ninth most in a single season in Drillers franchise history. He is tied with Carlos Pena (2000) and Ryan Ward (2022). One more homer would move him into a five-way tie for fifth place. Tim Wheeler holds the franchise record with 33 home runs in the 2011 season.
*Gelof finished 3-5 at the plate and extended his hitting streak to seven straight games. He also totaled four RBI in the game.
*Newell doubled in the eighth inning to also extend his hitting streak to seven games.
*Hainline’s fourth-inning homer was his 12th of the year.
*Tulsa batters struck out 19 times in the game.
*De Paula inched closer in his pursuit to become just the second Drillers player to record 100 RBI and 100 runs scored in the same season. He scored two runs in the game to give him 100 on the year. De Paula has 99 RBI with 13 games remaining in the regular season.
*Patrick Copen made his 21st start of the season for the Drillers, and he worked the first four innings. Copen allowed four runs on eight hits and three walks and was not involved in the decision.
*Payton Martin worked two scoreless innings with just one hit in relief of Copen. It was Martin’s first relief appearance of the year after making 21 starts.
*The eighth-inning run against Kmatz was just the second he has allowed in nine games with the Drillers.
*Kelvin Ramirez was credited with the victory to improve his record to 8-3. His eight wins tie him with Adam Serwinowski for the most on the team.
*The Drillers guaranteed at least a series split in the six-game set, taking a 3 games to 2 lead with the victory.
UP NEXT
The Drillers will close out their series with the RockHounds on Sunday afternoon at Momentum Bank Ballpark. First pitch in Midland is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. and the pitching matchup is expected to be:
Tulsa – TBA
Midland – RHP Ben Hansen (2-0, 3.00 ERA)