Drillers Get Walk-Off Win over Wind Surge
Tulsa, OK – A crowd of over 5,600 came out to ONEOK Field on Wednesday night for a special Independence Holiday Fireworks Show and a Propeller Series meeting between the Tulsa Drillers and Wichita Wind Surge. Before the post-game fireworks began, the big crowd was treated to a walk-off win
Tulsa, OK – A crowd of over 5,600 came out to ONEOK Field on Wednesday night for a special Independence Holiday Fireworks Show and a Propeller Series meeting between the Tulsa Drillers and Wichita Wind Surge. Before the post-game fireworks began, the big crowd was treated to a walk-off win by the Drillers. Kole Myers’ 30-foot single plated pinch-runner Sean McLain with the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning, giving the Drillers a 2-1 victory.
The dramatic win continued a strong start to the second half of the season for the Drillers. They are now 5-3 in the new half.
In addition, the victory upped Tulsa’s lead in this year’s Coors Light Propeller Series with the Wind Surge to 8-6 with 10 meetings remaining between the two teams this season.
Wednesday’s game was dominated by pitching, Tulsa starter Peter Heubeck turned in the longest outing of his professional career with seven innings pitched.
The Wind Surge got three shutout innings from starter Mike Paredes and two more from reliever Jaylen Nowlin.
The Drillers finally pushed across the first run of the night in the bottom of the sixth inning. With one out, Noah Miller lined a base hit into right field. Damon Keith followed and worked a full count before hitting a liner into shallow center field. Wichita centerfielder Walker Jenkins came in and to his right and made a diving attempt to catch the drive, but he was unsuccessful. When the ball rolled past him and into deep centerfield, Miller raced home and Keith settled for a run-scoring triple.
The lead was temporary. With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Ricardo Olivar hit his ninth home run of the season. It was just the second hit allowed by Heubeck, and the solo homer tied the score at 1-1.
The home run set the stage for Tulsa’s walk-off win in the bottom of the ninth. The rally began with a base hit by Griffin Lockwood-Powell, followed by another hit from Taylor Young. John Rhodes drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases and bring Miller to the plate.
The Tulsa leadoff batter already had two hits in the game. On a 2-2 count, Myers made just enough contact to hit a soft grounder up the first base line. Wichita pitcher John Stankiewicz raced in and attempted a scoop throw to the plate with his glove, but he had no chance to get McLain who had pinch run for Lockwood Powell.
It was the seventh walk-off win this season for the Drillers, but it was their first since May 16.
INSIDE THE GAME
*Lockwood-Powell’s leadoff single not only set up the dramatic win, but it also extended his on-base streak to 32 straight games. He was 0-3 entering the ninth-inning at-bat. The 32-game streak is the longest in the Texas League this season and the second longest for a Tulsa player in at least the last 17 seasons
*Heubeck was brilliant, with Olivar’s home run the only blemish in his outing. The right-hander worked seven full innings and allowed the one run on two hits while walking three batters and striking out five. His previous longest outing as a pro was six complete innings.
*Robinson Ortiz followed Heubeck to the mound and pitched around two singles to record a scoreless eighth inning.
*Ronan Kopp worked the ninth and continued his dominant run. The lefthander struck out the side and has not allowed a run in his last 13 games, a stretch of 17.1 innings. Kopp last allowed a run on May 16 against Northwest Arkansas.
*Myers finished 3-5 and extended his hitting streak to six straight games. In the streak, he is hitting .435 (10-23).
*The first two games of the series with Wichita have drawn a combined paid attendance total of over 10,500 fans to ONEOK Field.
UP NEXT
The Drillers will close out their brief home stand with the third and final game of their three-game series with the Wind Surge. It will also be the final night of back-to-back-to-back Independence Day Holiday Fireworks Shows. The game will have a special starting time of 6:30 p.m. and the starting pitchers are scheduled to be:
Wichita- LHP Connor Prielipp (0-3, 3.65 ERA)
Tulsa- LHP Jackson Ferris (4-5, 5.55 ERA)