Petit Hits Walk-Off Homer in 12th
Oklahoma City - Gregorio Petit powered the Oklahoma City RedHawks to a 6-5 win Friday, hitting a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 12th inning against the Las Vegas 51s in front of a crowd of 10,187 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.
With two outs, Petit drilled the first pitch he saw into the RedHawks bullpen in left-center field to break a 5-5 tie. The home run was his sixth of the season.
The walk-off homer was the first by a RedHawk since Fernando Martinez hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the 10th inning against Memphis July 3, 2012.
The RedHawks (37-32) tied the game, 5-5, in the bottom of the ninth with two outs when a wild pitch with the bases loaded allowed Austin Wates to score and force extra innings.
Friday's game was the longest of the season for the RedHawks, stretching into the 12th inning and lasting 4 hours, 16 minutes.
Las Vegas (39-28) scored first Friday in the back-and-forth game.
Travis d'Arnaud homered on a fly ball to left-center field in the first inning to give Las Vegas a 1-0 lead in the team's appearance in Bricktown since 2012.
Kiké Hernandez tripled to lead off the bottom of the first inning for the RedHawks. Marc Krauss brought him home on a two-out RBI single to tie the game, 1-1.
In the bottom of the third inning, Hernandez reached on a fielding error and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Ronny Torreyes. He then scored on a single by Domingo Santana, who was out at second on the throw. Marc Krauss followed with a double, then advanced to third on a throwing error. Krauss then scored on a wild pitch with Matt Duffy batting for a 3-1 Oklahoma City advantage.
Cory Vaughn hit a two-run homer for the 51s in the fourth inning to tie the game, 3-3.
In the fifth, Ronny Torreyes belted the first pitch he saw into the left field bleachers for his second homer of the season to give Oklahoma City a 4-3 edge.
Las Vegas' Anthony Seratelli connected on a two-out, two-run double in the seventh inning to give the 51s a 5-4 lead.
The RedHawks then put together a wild bottom of the ninth inning, entering the frame trailing by one run.
Wates pinch hit for Erik Castro and singled on a ground ball to left field. Later in the inning with two outs and Domingo Santana batting, a wild pitch by the 51s' Miguel Socolovich allowed Wates to advance to second base. Santana went on to draw a walk.
Scott Rice replaced Socolovich on the mound for Las Vegas to face left-handed batter Krauss. A wild pitch by Rice allowed the runners to advance to second and third before Krauss drew a walk to load the bases for Matt Duffy with two outs.
John Church then replaced Rice on the mound for the 51s. A wild pitch by Church allowed Wates to score and tie the game, 5-5. Duffy drew a walk to bring up Carlos Perez, who grounded into a force out to send the game into the 10th inning.
Oklahoma City had a chance to win in the bottom of the 10th frame. Petit doubled with one out. Wates was intentionally walked before Hernandez singled to load the bases for Ronny Torreyes, who grounded into a double play to end the inning.
RedHawks starting pitcher Brett Oberholtzer tied a season high with nine strikeouts and allowed two home runs. He pitched 6.0 innings, allowing three runs and six hits and did not issue a walk.
Reliever Jorge De Leon (2-0) earned the win, pitching a scoreless top of the 12th inning.
Las Vegas utilized seven pitchers and Zack Thornton (1-2) was charged with the loss.
The RedHawks continue their series against Las Vegas with a 7:05 p.m. game Saturday at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Special entertainment act BirdZerk! will perform throughout the game.
Tickets are available through the box office on S. Mickey Mantle Drive, by calling (405) 218-1000, or ordering through okcredhawks.com. Live coverage begins at 6:35 p.m. on AM 1340 "The Game," 1340thegame.com, or through the free IHeartRadio mobile app.