Springdale, AR – The Tulsa Drillers concluded the 2026 regular season on Sunday afternoon with a 5-4 loss in Northwest Arkansas, but it was still a memorable day. Jake Gelof made history by hitting his 34th home run of the season. Gelof will finish as this year’s Texas League home run champion, but more impressively he broke the Tulsa professional baseball modern era, single-season home run record with Sunday’s blast. Tulsa’s modern era is considered to have started in 1932.
Gelof’s 34th homer in the fourth inning moved him past Tim Wheeler for the Tulsa record. Wheeler had hit 33 home runs in 2011.
With the loss, the Drillers came up just short of finishing 40 games over .500. They will instead settle with an 88-50 record, setting the Drillers franchise record for most wins in a season. It is the most wins for a Tulsa pro team since 1968.
Before the historic homer, Gelof’s first hit of the game gave Tulsa a 1-0 lead. In the top of the first inning. Elijah Hainline singled, stole second and scored on Gelof’s single.
The Naturals tied the score in the second inning when Daniel Vazquez doubled and scored on a base hit from Alberto Rodriguez.
Gelof put the Drillers back in front with his historic home run in the top of the fourth. The towering drive easily cleared the left-center field fence.
Northwest Arkansas went back in front in the bottom of the fourth. Vazquez scored the first run of the frame when he singled and eventually came home on Justin Johnson’s sacrifice fly.
Rodriguez followed with a two-out triple and scored the tiebreaking run on a single from Angel Acosta.
The score remained 3-2 until the bottom of the eighth when the Naturals added an insurance run on Johnson’s double.
But, the Drillers were not finished. Jose Izarra worked a leadoff walk in the ninth, and, with one out, newcomer Eduardo Quintero, playing in his first game with the Drillers, picked up his first Double-A hit with a two-run homer that tied the score at 4-4.
The Naturals answered in the bottom half of the ninth. Acosta drew a leadoff walk from Tulsa reliever Christian Suarez. After a sacrifice bunt and an intentional walk, Sam Kulasingam ended the game and the regular season with a drive to deep centerfield that fell safely for a game-winning single in a 5-4 win for the Naturals.
With the end of the regular season, the record-breaking win total was not the only major accomplishment. Below is a list of some of the top numbers and milestones from the Drillers performance.
*INDIVIDUAL SEASON FRANCHISE RECORDS/MILESTONES
**\Gelof Tulsa professional baseball modern era home run record (34)
*Gelof Drillers franchise sacrifice fly record (11)
*Gelof fourth most RBI in franchise history (103)
*Josue De Paula tied for third most RBI in franchise history (104)
*De Paula third most runs scored in franchise history (106)
*De Paula tied for ninth most hits in franchise history (152)
*De Paula eighth most doubles in franchise history (37)
*Elijah Hainline tied for sixth most walks in franchise history (84)
*Gelof tied for sixth most walks in franchise history (84)
*De Paula eighth most walks in franchise history (81)
*De Paula ninth best slugging percentage in franchise history (.542)
*Adam Serwinowski third most strikeouts in franchise history (150)
*Patrick Copen seventh most strikeouts in franchise history (136)
*Mike Sirota reached base in 72 straight games (longest in pro baseball this season)
*Gelof reached base in 44 straight Drillers games (second longest streak in franchise history)
*TEAM SEASON RECORDS/MILESTONES
**\Most runs scored in franchise history (856)
*Most RBI in franchise history (802)
*Most walks drawn in franchise history (713)
*Third most stolen bases in franchise history (204)
*Best slugging percentage in franchise history (.446)
*Best on-base percentage in franchise history (.365)
*Best OPS in franchise history (.811)
*Most home runs in franchise history (199)
*Most wins in franchise history (88)
*Best winning percentage in franchise history (.638)
GAME NOTES
*Prior to Sunday’s finale, the Drillers announced a pair of roster moves. Outfielders Charles Davalan and Quintero were added to the roster from High-A Great Lakes, while outfielder Agustin Acosta and pitcher Alex Walsh were assigned to the Los Angeles Dodgers Arizona Complex Rookie League roster. Davalan, who attended the University of Arkansas, hit .292 with 24 homers, 72 RBI and 17 stolen bases for the Loons this season. Quintero hit .292 with 12 homers, 68 RBI and 44 stolen bases. MLB Pipeline ranks Quintero as the Dodgers #3 minor league prospect and Davalan the #6 prospect.
*Both newcomers were in the lineup for Sunday’s finale. Davalan hit leadoff and Quintero was in the second spot. Davalan finished 1-5 with a fifth-inning single, while Quintero was 1-5, with his hit being the game-tying homer.
*Roque Gutierrez started the game and worked the first five innings. He was charged with three runs on six hits and zero walks while striking out three.
*Gelof will finish the regular season on an eight-game hitting streak after finishing 2-3. He has now hit safely in 19 of his last 20 games.
*Sean McLain did not play in the finale, keeping his hitting streak intact at 11 straight games.
*A paid crowd of 2,801 watched the finale in Arvest Ballpark, many of them Drillers fans. Tulsa finished with a paid attendance total of over a half-million fans (581,222) for all 138 regular season games in 2026. The figure includes a paid attendance total of 326,121 for games at ONEOK Field.
UP NEXT
The Drillers will travel directly to Springfield, Missouri. Following a day off on Monday, they will begin the best-of-three Texas League North Division Playoff Series on Tuesday evening against the Cardinals. Game 1 is scheduled to start at 6:35 p.m. at Springfield’s Hammons Field, and the pitching matchup will be:
Tulsa – LHP Adam Serwinowski (7-3, 5.59 ERA)
Northwest Arkansas – RHP Yhoiker Fajardo (9-6, 5.31 ERA)