Drillers Win in Walk-Off Fashion Again

The Tulsa Drillers did it again. For the third time in four games, the Drillers somehow found a way to overcome a late inning deficit and earn a walk-off victory. The latest edition came Sunday afternoon as the Drillers rallied from a 9-7 deficit in the bottom of the ninth inning to defeat the Corpus Christi Hooks 10-9 in their series finale at ONEOK Field.
Newcomer Quincy Latimore got the final rally started as he patiently drew a one-out walk off Hooks reliever Sean Stutzman. Edwin Ríos then followed him to the plate and electrified the crowd as he launched a no-doubt homer over the right-center field fence. Rios' 11th blast of the season knotted the game at 9-9.
Stutzman recovered to strike out Jacob Scavuzzo, but he would not be as fortunate with Matt Beaty. After hitting several long fly balls foul down the right field line, Beaty made an adjustment and smoked the fourth pitch of the at-bat into the Corpus Christi bullpen to set off a raucous victory celebration at home plate.
The come-from-behind victory was made necessary after a slugfest that saw the Hooks plate two in the eighth inning, giving them the 9-7 advantage going into the ninth. The final two Corpus Christi runs were scored off Karch Kowalczyk who had relieved Shea Spitzbarth after he had put two runners on with one out in the frame. One run scored on a RBI base knock by Trent Woodward while the second run came in on a wild pitch from Kowalczyk.
But to Kowalczyk's credit, he maintained his poise on the mound and finished out the inning before setting the Hooks down in order in the top half of the ninth to lead to the Drillers heroics in the bottom half of the frame.
It didn't take long for the scoring to get underway Sunday afternoon however, as both the Hooks and the Drillers got on the board in the first inning.
Corpus Christi plated their first runs of the game thanks to a two-run blast by J.D. Davis. Following a one-out double by Kyle Tucker, Davis hit his second homer in as many games to give the visitors a quick two-run lead.
The Drillers got one of those runs back in the home half of the first on a Matt Beaty RBI single before taking a temporary lead in the second.
Erick Mejia got on base with a one-out single to bring up Tim Locastro. After nearly getting hit in the foot with a pitch from Hooks starter Alex Winkelman, Locastro deposited the very next pitch over the left field fence to put the Drillers in front 3-2. The homer was Locastro's second of the season.
But Tulsa starter Isaac Anderson was unable to protect the lead as he gave up a one-out home run to Jason Martin that tied the game up.
Anderson then gave up another long ball in the fourth, this one of the leadoff variety to Corpus Christi first baseman Jon Singleton to put the Hooks up 4-3. But that would not be the end of the scoring for the visitors as they would add three more runs before the frame finally came to a close.
Fortunately, the Tulsa offense was up for the challenge as they immediately responded in the home half of the fourth.

Photo by Rich Crimi
The inning began with Jose Miguel Fernandez reaching on a hit-by-pitch. After the next two hitters were retired, Locastro delivered again with a double to left to plate the first run of the inning. Latimore then traded placed with Locastro as he doubled to left before Rios drove him in with a bloop single into center to draw the Drillers to within 7-6.
The scoring quieted in the fifth as Corey Copping came on for Anderson and put a stop to the Corpus Christi offensive onslaught. Spitzbarth then followed suit in the sixth and seventh innings to help keep momentum with the Drillers.
While the bullpen did its job, the Tulsa offense tied things up in the home half of the sixth, thanks in large part to the speed of Erick Mejia. After lining a one-out single to right, the speedy shortstop swiped second before Latimore brought him scampering home with a two-out single to knot the game at 7-7.
The score would stay that way until the eighth when the final sequence of events would take place, leading to the Drillers walk-off victory.
Kowalczyk saw his record improve to 3-1 with the victory while Stutzman saw his drop to 1-1.
The Drillers will now enjoy an off-day on Monday before heading out to Little Rock, Arkansas to take on the Arkansas Travelers in a four-game set. Tulsa plans to send out RHP Scott Barlow (2-2, 2.44 ERA) to start the series while Arkansas is scheduled to counter with RHP Lindsey Caughel (3-6, 5.77 ERA). The first game will take place Tuesday night with first pitch set for 7:10pm.