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Drillers Win TCL Opener Behind Osmond

USC Trojan Ben Ramirez drives in a run as Tulsa downs Frisco. (Rich Crimi)
July 1, 2020

The Tulsa Drillers Texas Collegiate League team played its first-ever game Tuesday night at ONEOK Field and it was a local player that took the early spotlight. Former Jenks High School and current Oklahoma State University pitcher Bryce Osmond got the opening night start and turned in three dominant innings,

The Tulsa Drillers Texas Collegiate League team played its first-ever game Tuesday night at ONEOK Field and it was a local player that took the early spotlight. Former Jenks High School and current Oklahoma State University pitcher Bryce Osmond got the opening night start and turned in three dominant innings, helping the Drillers to an inaugural-game win, 3-2 over Frisco.

Osmond did not allow a hit or a run in his three innings while getting strikeouts on six of the nine outs he recorded. Only a two-out error in the second kept the hard-throwing right-hander from having a perfect outing.

Tulsa’s offense got on the board quickly in the bottom of the first inning. Nebraska University second baseman Cam Chick led off with a double and scored the first run of the season when USC third baseman Ben Ramirez followed with a single.

Tulsa increased its lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the fifth when Aidan Nagle and Jaden Brown produced consecutive one-out singles. Nagle scored on a ground out by Chick, and Brown came home on another hit from Ramirez.

Frisco left the bases full in both the fourth and fifth innings before scoring single runs in the sixth and seventh innings to make things interesting.

After allowing the seventh-inning run, University of Florida right-hander Brandon Sproat protected the one-run lead by blanking the RoughRiders over the final two frames.

A social-distanced crowd of 1,812 watched the first-ever TCL game in Tulsa.

TULSA HITTERS: Ramirez was the only Tulsa hitter with a multi-hit game, finishing 2-4 with 2 runs batted in. OSU’s Hueston Morrill finished 1-3 as the Drillers totaled seven hits in the victory.

Frisco reliever Ryan Carver blanked Tulsa over the final three innings, retiring all nine batters he faced while striking out six.

TULSA PITCHERS: Four Drillers pitchers combined for 15 total strikeouts with Osmond ‘s 6 leading the way. USC lefthander John Beller took over to open the fourth and allowed two hits and one walk in two scoreless innings.
Florida International right-hander Alejandro Torres struck out the first two batters in the sixth before a hit batter, stolen base and base hit produced Frisco’s first run.
Sproat allowed an unearned run in the seventh before closing out the game without allowing another hit over the final two innings.
TCL rules do not require a starting pitcher to work five innings to gain a win, so Osmond was credited with the victory. Sproat picked up the save.

UP NEXT: Tulsa will host Frisco Wednesday night for game two of a three-game series at ONEOK Field. Fans are invited to bring their dogs to the park as it is Paws and $3 White Claws Night with first pitch slated for 7:00 p.m. Tickets are available online by clicking HERE. The game can also be viewed online with a subscription to TCL-TV.
The starting pitchers are scheduled to be:

Frisco – TBA
Tulsa – LHP Hunter Barco, followed by RHP Cade Winquest and RHP Colby Gomes