Drillers Lose on Dropped Pop Up in Tenth Inning

Wichita, KS – A dropped pop up in the bottom of the tenth inning capped a seven-run rally Saturday night for Wichita and sent the Tulsa Drillers to their fourth-straight loss at Riverfront Stadium. With two outs and runners at second and third, the game appeared headed to the eleventh inning when D.J. Burt hit a routine pop up near the pitcher’s mound, but Tulsa first baseman Ryan Noda had the ball skip off his glove for the walk-off error that gave the Wind Surge an 8-7 victory.

It was the third error of the game for the Drillers and their seventh in the last two games. The defeat leaves them with a 3-8 record on their current road trip with just one game remaining.

The result also gives Wichita a 9-8 lead in this year’s Propeller Series. The winner of the season series between the Drillers and the Wind Surge will be presented the Propeller Trophy by Coors Light.

BOXSCORE

After struggling for hits and runs during a three-game losing streak to Wichita, the Drillers had no such problem on Saturday scoring seven runs over the first five innings to take a six-run lead.

The offensive production started early as Jacob Amaya and Michael Busch opened the game with consecutive singles. With one out, Carlos Rincon doubled home Amaya with the game’s first run. A two-out wild pitch brought in Busch to give the Drillers a quick 2-0 lead.

Tulsa added two more runs in the top of the third. Donovan Casey singled, stole second and advanced to third on a hit by Ryan Noda. When Noda stole second base, catcher Caleb Hamilton’s throw skipped into centerfield, allowing Casey to trot home with the third run. A two-out hit from Hunter Feduccia plated Noda and upped the lead to 4-0.

After the Wind Surge scored a run in the bottom of the third, the Drillers tacked on two more in the top of the fourth. After drawing a leadoff walk, Amaya stole both second and third bases before scoring on a base hit by Rincon. A run-scoring hit by Casey made it 6-1.

Busch’s 11th home run of the year in the fifth increased the led to six runs.

The Wind Surge got back into the game with a three-run rally with two outs in the sixth inning. A two-run double from Andrew Bechtold and an RBI single from Trey Cabbage made it 7-4.

They made it a new game with three more runs in the seventh. Tulsa reliever Austin Drury walked two batters before giving way to Nick Robertson. He walked the bases loaded before Boyd cleared them with a three-run single into right-center field as Spencer Speer raced all the way home from first base to tie the game.

In the top of tenth inning, placed runner Devin Mann advanced to third on a ground out, but he was thrown out at home trying to score on another infield grounder. Amaya then lined out to set up the Wind Surge’s unlikely rally in the bottom of the tenth.

THE HIGHLIGHTS

*Feduccia’s third-inning single increased his hitting streak to ten straight games, one short of the season high for a Tulsa batter.

*Prior to the game, catcher Andres Noriega was returned to the development list to make room on the active roster for pitcher Gus Varland, who started the game. Varland pitched just the first inning, setting the Surge down in order on only 12 pitches in what was his first appearance since May 25.

*The Drillers bullpen continued its recent struggles. In the month of July, the bullpen has made 49 total appearances and has surrendered 58 earned runs in 76.0 innings of work for a 6.87 ERA.

*Tulsa set a season high with five stolen bases in the game, including two by Amaya.

UP NEXT

The Drillers will conclude their 12-game road trip Sunday afternoon, and will begin a 13-game homestand Tuesday night at ONEOK Field

Tulsa at Wichita on Sunday, July 18 at 1:05 PM at Riverfront Stadium.
The pitching matchup will be Tulsa RHP Gerardo Carrillo (2-1, 4.71 ERA) against Wichita RHP Austin Schulfer (2-6, 4.45 ERA).