Wilson, Express Walk-Off On Aces 4-3
ROUND ROCK, Texas - The Round Rock Express (62-61) returned home to Dell Diamond Tuesday and promptly ended a season-high five-game losing skid, defeating the Reno Aces (66-58) 4-3 on a 12th inning walk-off base hit by SS Josh Wilson.
DH Bryan Petersen led off the bottom of the 12th with a single to right and was sacrificed into scoring position by 1B Jason Donald. Wilson then sliced a "single" deep into the right field corner to give the E-Train their sixth walk-off win of the season.
With the game-winning knock, Wilson became the first Express player to record multiple walk-off hits this season.
CF Ryan Strausborger got Round Rock started in the right direction with a leadoff single in the bottom of the first. 1B Tomas Telis then hammered his second Triple-A home run of the season into the right-center field bullpen to give the E-Train an early 2-0 lead.
After trailing for three innings, the Aces' bats heated up in the fourth, as they touched E-Train reliever LHP Ryan Feierabend for three runs to assume the lead. 2B Ronny Cedeno drew a leadoff walk then moved up a base on an Andy Marte single. After an out, 1B Garrett Weber dropped a base hit into shallow center field to load the bases ahead of RF Roger Kieschnick, who put Reno on the board with a sacrifice fly to deep center. Marte and Weber, who both advanced into scoring position on Kieschnick's sac fly, then scored when former E-Train LF Aaron Cunningham hooked a single down the right field line, giving the visiting team a 3-2 advantage.
Pitching dominated from that point until the bottom of the ninth when Round Rock scratched across a run off Reno closer RHP Jake Barrett to send the game into extra innings. With one out, 3B Ryan Rua drew a walk then advanced to third on a Brett Nicholas single. LF Michael Choice followed by lifting a sacrifice fly to deep center field to square the game at 3-3.
Express LHP Michael Kirkman (5-5, 4.86 ERA) earned the victory after tossing 2.1 innings of relief. Kirkman allowed just one hit, while striking out three. He was the seventh pitcher to enter the game for Round Rock.
The Express and Aces will continue their series with game two Wednesday at Dell Diamond. The pitching matchup will pit Round Rock's LHP Robbie Ross Jr. (4-4, 5.10 ERA) against Reno RHP Lucas Harrell (5-3, 5.40 ERA). Game time is set for 7:05 p.m.
Come on down to the park for Winning Wednesday presented by the Texas Lottery, and don't forget to bring two H-E-B branded canned food items to receive a free lawn ticket as part of Strike Out Hunger. All donations benefit Capital Area Food Bank. For more information on the Express, visit www.RoundRockExpress.com or call (512) 255-2255. Keep up with the Express on Facebook and Twitter!