Frisco Wins With Whittleman's Walkoff Slam
Dustin Majewski and Tim Smith led off the ninth with singles off Bobby Cassevah (L, 2-5). After a coaching visit to the mound, Cassevah walked Mitchell Moreland to load the bases. David Herndon (BS, 5) came on to pitch with no outs and the bases juiced and retired Chad Tracy on a foul out to first base. But the next batter, Whittleman, cleared the bases with his sixth home run of the season.
Both teams scored early and often, with Arkansas (6-12, 34-54) starting the scoring in the top of the first. Ryan Kiniry doubled to right field to lead off the game in his Double-A debut. After a Hainley Statia sacrifice bunt moved him all the way to third, Kiniry scored on a Hank Conger one-out single. The RoughRiders (12-6, 45-43) tied the game in the bottom of the frame when Craig Gentry walked, advanced to third on a Majewski line single to left and scored on a Moreland RBI-single.
The Travelers scored three runs in the second inning with two-out rally. Statia came to bat with runners on the corners and lined a ball to left to score Flint Wipke and move Ivan Contreras to third. Then with Conger batting, Statia swiped second base (12) while Contreras stole home (2). Conger then knocked in Statia with another liner to left. Frisco answered in the bottom half of the second when Gentry doubled to score Guilder Rodriguez, and then Gentry scored on a Majewski single.
The RoughRiders took a 6-4 lead with a three-run fifth inning off Arkansas starter Michael Anton. Gentry walked and stole his league-leading 35th base of the season. Majewski drove in Gentry again with a single to center. Anton then hit Smith and gave up a single to Moreland to laod the bases. A Tracy sacrifice fly to right allowed Majewski to score, and then Smith stole third (8) and scored on a Manuel Pina two-out single. Anton retired Adam Fox with two men on and finished with five innings pitched and six runs allowed on eight hits and two walks.
Barret Browning threw 1.2 innings of scoreless relief, and Cassevah came on with two out in the seventh inning and retired four straight batters, one strikeout and three groundouts in the eighth. He was extended to pitch the ninth inning but allowed three baserunners before being lifted for Herndon, who gave up the grand slam to end the game. It was the fourth time this season the Travelers have lost a game going into the ninth inning with the lead.
The Travs manufactured one run in each of the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. In the sixth, Chris Gutierrez singled and went first-to-third on a Wil Ortiz single to right field, then scored on a Wipke sacrifice fly. RoughRider starter Blake Beavan left the game after six innings, allowing 11 hits and five runs without a walk and just one strikeout.
In the seventh inning, Kiniry collected his second hit of the game off reliever John Bannister, then advanced to third on a Conger single and scored on a Mark Trumbo fielder's choice. Bannister hit Gutierrez to start the eighth. Gutierrez went to second on an Ortiz sac bunt, took third on a wild pitch, and scored on a squeeze bunt by Wipke. Jose Diaz (W, 3-0) got the win after pitching a perfect top of the ninth.
Arkansas matched Frisco's 13 hits in the series finale but had only one go for extra bases, Kiniry's double that led off the game. With the sweep, Frisco won its eighth straight over the Travelers and finished the season series with a 10-2 advantage.
Tuesday's attendance was 5,867. The game lasted 2:59. The Travelers are off tomorrow but return to Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock, Ark., for a four-game series with the Tulsa Drillers beginning Thursday at 7:10 p.m.