Copen Flirts with No-Hitter, Leads Drillers to Third Straight Win

Springfield, MO- In their first three games of a six-game series in Springfield against the Cardinals, Tulsa pitchers had surrendered a total of 21 runs, but the Drillers had produced enough offense to win two of those games. In game four on Friday night at Hammons Field, starting pitcher Patrick Copen cooled the Redbirds’ bats, holding them without a hit for six innings. Copen eventually lost his no-hit bid in the seventh, but his dominant outing helped lead the Drillers to a 5-2 victory.

It was the third straight win for the Drillers and moved them into first place in the Texas League’s North Division with a record of 5-2 record. It was the third straight loss for the Cardinals who were undefeated this season entering the series with the Drillers.

BOXSCORE

For Copen, Friday’s outing was his second impressive start this season. He held the Cards without a hit for six innings and struck out the leadoff batter in the bottom of the seventh. Copen’s no-hit bid ended when Travis Honeyman followed the strikeout and dropped a liner into centerfield.

The hit ended Copen’s night with 6.1 innings pitched, one hit allowed, four walks and nine strikeouts. In two starts this season, Copen has yet to allow a run in 11.1 total innings pitched. He has surrendered just three hits while striking out 17 batters.

Tulsa’s offense, which had scored double figures in the previous two victories, provided Copen with enough offensive support.

After the game began with two scoreless innings, the Driller plated two runs in the top of the third. Griffin Lockwood-Powell drew a leadoff walk, and Joe Vetrano followed with a base hit. After a strikeout, Kendall George doubled to score both runners and give Tulsa a 2-0 lead.

The margin swelled to 5-0 in the fourth. Zyhir Hope led off with a base hit and scored the third run of the game on a double from Elijah Hainline. One out later, Lockwood-Powell drilled his first home run of the season to give Copen and the Drillers a five-run cushion.

Following Honeyman’s seventh-inning single, Kelvin Ramirez replaced Copen and retired the next two hitters to end the inning.

The Cardinals finally broke through in the eighth with an unearned run against Ramirez that cut Tulsa’s lead to 5-1.

Reliever Christian Suarez closed out the win for Tulsa, but the Redbirds made things interesting. In the bottom of the ninth, Springfield scored its second run and put runners at second and third with just one out. With the potential game-tying run at the plate, Suarez got a strikeout and then caught a game-ending, foul pop up to wrap up the victory.

GAME NOTES

*The Drillers had only five hits in the game and were held hitless over the final five innings.

*Hainline’s fourth-inning double upped his hitting streak to seven straight games. He has at least one hit in every game this season and has a .370 batting average.

*Hope’s single in the same inning increased his hitting streak to six straight games.

*George had one hit and actually saw his season average drop to .400. In the four games against the Cards, George is 8-17.

*The 17 strikeouts Copen has recorded to open the season are the most he has had in two straight starts since totaling 21 over two starts in May of last season while pitching for Great Lakes. He has given up only three hits this season, all singles, while holding opponents to a .081 batting average.

*The Drillers have scored 32 runs in the first four games of the series with the Cardinals and have a .295 team batting average. In comparison, the Redbirds are hitting .195 in the series.

UP NEXT

The Drillers will continue their six-game series in Springfield on Saturday night with game five at Hammons Field. Starting time is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. and the starting pitchers are expected to be:

TUL – LHP Wyatt Crowell (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
SPR – TBA