Riders prevail late in 3-2 win

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (June 22, 2022) – The Frisco RoughRiders held on to win another tight game at Dickey-Stephens Park with a 3-2 win over the Arkansas Travelers Wednesday night. Center fielder J.P. Martinez threw out the game’s tying run from center field in the bottom of the ninth for the final out in the one-run win.

Box score

Frisco (34-31) designated hitter Sandro Fabian broke a scoreless tie in the sixth inning with a shot up the left field line and over the fence for his ninth home run of the season. Left fielder Dustin Harris scored on a Justin Foscue sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth to give Frisco the 3-2 advantage.

Wednesday night’s game lasted six innings before a run was plated. Frisco starter Avery Weems struck out five batters in three scoreless innings, giving up two walks on four hits. The Travelers stranded two runners on in the first and stranded the bases loaded in the second.

Arkansas (34-31) right-hander Emerson Hancock lasted 3.2 scoreless innings and finished with a pair of strikeouts. Rob Kaminsky struck out three in 2.1 scoreless out of the Travs bullpen.

Frisco entered the seventh inning with one hit offensively but got back-to-back hits from Foscue and Fabian. Foscue singled with one out to set up Fabian’s two-run home run off Arkansas reliever Braden Shipley, giving Frisco a 2-0 lead into the stretch.

As they did in Tuesday night’s game, the Travelers answered late with a two-run double in the bottom of the eighth inning from catcher Jake Anchia, who had the two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh in Tuesday’s game.

Frisco broke the 2-2 tie in the ninth when Harris reached on a fielding error from Travelers reliever Travis Kuhn (1-2). Harris scored from third on a Foscue sacrifice fly to right field to retake the lead, 3-2.

After allowing the game-tying runs in the eighth, Riders reliever Grant Anderson (4-0) returned for the ninth to face Arkansas, who produced back-to-back base hits with two outs. With Travelers first baseman Jake Scheiner attempting to score on a Kaden Polcovich single, Martinez fielded the grounded ball in center field and relayed to catcher David Garcia in time to apply the tag and finalize the Wednesday 3-2 win.

The RoughRiders and Travelers continue a thrilling series Thursday night at Dickey-Stephens Park with a 6:35 p.m. first pitch. Frisco LHP Cody Bradford (5-3, 6.06 ERA) takes the mound for his team-high 13th start of the season, and faces off against Arkansas RHP Taylor Dollard (5-2, 0.93 ERA).

The Riders return to Frisco to conclude the month of June and usher in July with a six-game series against the Corpus Christi Hooks on June 28th. For tickets and more information about the Frisco RoughRiders, visit RidersBaseball.com or call 972.731.9200.

About the RoughRiders

The Frisco RoughRiders are the Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. The team was founded in 2003 and has finished first among all Double-A franchises in attendance for 15 consecutive seasons (2005-2019). In August 2014, the RoughRiders were purchased by an ownership group led by Chuck Greenberg. Since then, the new ownership group, together with the City of Frisco, has spearheaded numerous major franchise enhancements, investing over $8 million in a wide array of facility upgrades and improvements, including a state-of-the-art HD video board, sound system, Bull Moose Saloon, InTouch Grille, Riders Outpost Team Store and the world's largest water feature in a sports facility, the massive Lazy River. These enhancements earned the Riders and the City of Frisco Ballpark Digest's prestigious "Best Ballpark Renovation" award for two consecutive years (2015 and 2016). More than 170 former RoughRiders players have gone on to play Major League Baseball. For more information on the Frisco RoughRiders, please visit RidersBaseball.com or contact [email protected].