Tulsa, OK – The final home stand of the 2026 regular season continues to be a winning one for the Tulsa Drillers. Tulsa made it five straight wins on Saturday night with an 8-6 win over Wichita. The victory gave the Drillers five wins in five games of the six-game series with the Wind Surge with their final home game of the regular season scheduled for Sunday night ONEOK Field.
The starting pitchers were dominant through the first 4½ innings, keeping the game scoreless until the bottom of the fifth inning. Tulsa shortstop Sean McLain was responsible for the first run of the night, hitting his sixth homer of the season with two outs and the bases empty in the fifth.
Wichita answered against Patrick Copen in the top half of the sixth. Copen had blanked the Wind Surge on just three hits through the first five innings, but Danny De Andrade opened the sixth with a ground-ball single to right that set the stage for a three-run outburst. After a strikeout, Marek Houston missed a two-run homer by just a few feet, settling for a ground-rule double that left runners at second and third.
Caden Kendle followed with a slow roller that second baseman Jake Gelof fielded and threw quickly to first, but the throw was wide of the bag. The infield hit and throwing error allowed both De Andrade and Houston to score to put the Wind Surge in front.
Andrew Cossetti’s single later in the sixth scored Kendle to increase Wichita’s lead to 3-1.
The Drillers responded immediately. Mike Sirota and Elijah Hainline drew back-to-back walks to open the bottom of the sixth to end Wichita starter Riley Quick’s night. Jake Gelof greeted reliever Ty Langenberg with a lined single into left field that scored Sirota and advanced Hainline to third.
Hainline came home to score and Gelof advanced to second when Logan Wagner grounded out to first. With two outs, McLain delivered the final hit of the inning when he hit a grounder up the middle that deflected off the glove of second baseman De Andrade. When the ball rolled into shallow centerfield, Gelof rounded third and slid home safely with a headfirst slide, giving the Drillers a 4-3 lead.
Tulsa put together another big inning in the seventh. With one out, Sirota walked and Hainline singled, setting the stage for a two-run double from Gelof. Wagner accounted for the third and fourth runs of the inning when he hit his fourth Double-A homer of the season, putting Tulsa on top 8-3.
The Wind Surge scored one run in the eighth inning, before things became uncomfortable for the Drillers in the top of the ninth. Tulsa reliever Evan Shawn hit the first batter of the inning, then allowed a two-out single. Kendle doubled home both runners to pull Wichita to within 8-6.
After a walk put runners at first and second, Cam Day replaced Shaw and worked a full count before enticing a grounder back to the mound from Cossetti to end the game.
GAME NOTES
*The home run from McLain allowed the shortstop to score the 807th run of the season for the Drillers, establishing a new franchise record for the most runs scored in one season. It tops the old mark of 806 runs set by the 2000 Drillers squad.
*Gelof finished 2-4 with 2 runs scored and 3 runs driven in, giving him 93 RBI on the season.
*Wagner now has 20 home runs on the season, 16 with High-A Great Lakes and 4 with Tulsa.
*Copen was credited with the win improving his record to 8-7. He pitched six innings, allowing 3 runs on six hits. Most impressively, he did not issue a walk while logging four strikeouts.
*Carson Hobbs followed Copen and worked a scoreless seventh inning. Hobbs has not allowed a run in his last seven games and 9 1/3 innings pitched.
*Saturday afternoon, the Drillers announced that relief pitcher Angel Cruz had been added to the active roster. The 21-year-old Cruz was 1-1 with a 6.43 ERA and 3 saves in 31 games split between the Dodgers Rookie League team and the Class-A Ontario Tower Buzzers.
UP NEXT
The Drillers will play their final home game of the 2026 regular season on Sunday evening at ONEOK Field. Tulsa will again host Wichita with first pitch scheduled for 6:00 p.m. There will be a large, postgame Fireworks scheduled for after the game, and the pitching matchup will be:
Wichita – RHP Adrian Bohorquez (0-1, 1.00 ERA)
Tulsa – LHP Luke Fox (1-0, 3.86 ERA)
