Tepesch Leads Express Past Sky Sox

ROUND ROCK, Texas - The Round Rock Express (4-3) was firing on all cylinders once again Wednesday night as it dropped the Colorado Springs Sky Sox (4-3) 7-1 at Dell Diamond.

Round Rock pitcher Nick Tepesch (2-0, 0.69 ERA) turned in his second solid performance in as many starts to pick up the win. The 6'4" right-hander gave up just one run on five hits in seven innings of work, striking out five and walking three.

Tepesch received support to the tune of seven runs Wednesday, which came on 11 hits, six of which went for extra bases.

After two scoreless innings, the E-Train pulled away from the Sky Sox with a five-run third. Adam Rosales set the tone by blasting a solo homer into Round Rock's bullpen to lead off the inning. Following the bomb, which was Rosales's first of the year, the third baseman debuted the impressively fleet home run trot for which he is known.

Later in the third, right fielder Brad Snyder and catcher Chris Snyder both delivered RBI's with the bases loaded to extend Round Rock's lead to three. But the Express didn't stop there. After a strikeout, center fielder Jared Hoying ripped a two-out, two-run double to right to push the home team's advantage out to 5-0.

Colorado Springs first baseman Ryan Wheeler hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth to cut into Round Rock's lead, only to have the run negated by another E-Train long ball in the home half of the inning. Left fielder Bryan Peterson, who has been an RBI machine early, struck again, lining a 1-2 offering from Sky Sox starter Christian Friedrich (0-1, 7.00 ERA) over the left field wall for his third home run of the season.

Petersen finished the game 3-for-4 with a double to complement his long ball. He now leads the PCL with 12 RBI despite Wednesday's game being his only multi-hit performance thus far.

Friedrich's night ended after the fourth. The former first rounder gave up six runs on seven hits in his second outing.

Brad Snyder led off the bottom of the seventh with Round Rock's third solo shot of the night to stretch the E-Train's lead out to 7-1. The homer added to an already solid night for the right fielder as he finished 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBI.

Round Rock's Aaron Poreda took over for Tepesch in the eighth and needed just 11 pitches to retire the side. The left-hander struck out two.

Neftali Feliz tidied up with a perfect ninth to secure the E-Train win.

The Express closes out the series finale with the Sky Sox to Dell Diamond on Thursday for a mid-day series finale. Round Rock will look to claim its first series victory of the season as it sends RHP Scott Baker (1-0, 1.50 ERA) to the hill. Colorado Springs will counter with RHP Christian Bergman (1-0, 2.57 ERA). First pitch for the matinee is scheduled for 11:35 a.m. For more information on the Express, visit www.RoundRockExpress.com or call (512) 255-2255. Keep up with the Express on Facebook and Twitter!