O'Guinn Leads Drillers to Fifth Straight Win
Tulsa, OK – The Tulsa Drillers ran their winning streak to a season-best five games Friday night, and much of the credit could go to Jamal O’Guinn. O’Guinn shined both at the plate and in the field. The USC Trojan outfielder reached base five times, going a perfect 3-3 with
Tulsa, OK – The Tulsa Drillers ran their winning streak to a season-best five games Friday night, and much of the credit could go to Jamal O’Guinn. O’Guinn shined both at the plate and in the field. The USC Trojan outfielder reached base five times, going a perfect 3-3 with a home run and a pair of walks while also delivering the defensive play of the game. It all helped lead the Drillers to an 8-3 victory over the Victoria Generals at ONEOK Field.
The win keeps the Drillers just one-half game behind the first place Amarillo Sod Squad in the North Division standings of the Texas Collegiate League.
O’Guinn’s heroics began early. The right fielder’s two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning opened the game’s scoring. It was the team-leading third homer of the season for O’Guinn.
Jamal O'Guinn with his 3rd 💣 of the year and the Drillers go up 2⃣-0⃣ in the 2nd!#DrillVille pic.twitter.com/vozN6Lrup2
— Tulsa Drillers (@TulsaDrillers) July 25, 2020
After the Generals plated an unearned run in the top of the third inning, the Drillers added four more runs in the bottom half of the inning. A two-out throwing error brought in the first run, and a bases-loaded walk plated the second. A two-run single from Clay Owens capped the big inning and gave Tulsa a 6-1 lead.
The Generals scored single runs in both the fourth and fifth innings and threatened to pull even closer in the seventh, but O’Guinn delivered a defensive gem. With runners at first and third and no outs, Jose Diaz lofted a fly ball down the right field line that seemed destined to be a sacrifice fly. O’Guinn made the catch near the foul line and fired a one-hop strike to home to retire Jonathan Tapia attempting to tag and score.
The Drillers put the outcome away with two additional runs in the bottom of the eighth.
TULSA HITTERS: For O’Guinn, it was his second three-hit game of the year. The big night raised his season average to .310.
Oral Roberts infielder Ryan Cash was a late addition to the Tulsa lineup and matched Chick with three hits. Cash and O’Guinn combined for six of Tulsa’s eight hits.
Owens matched O’Guinn, who is his teammate at USC, with two runs batted in.
Second baseman Cam Chick walked three times and scored two runs.
TULSA PITCHERS: Garrett Crowley made his fourth start of the year and pitched the first three innings. The lefthander did not allow a hit, but he walked four batters and surrendered an unearned run. The Fordham University attendee struck out six and picked up the victory to improve his record to 2-0.
Vian, Oklahoma’s Javier Ramos came on to open the fourth inning, and the right-hander had his shortest outing of the season, officially working one inning. He struck out the side in the fourth, but he gave up a run on three hits. His night ended when the first two batters in the fifth reached base.
Shane Mejia followed Ramos and worked two scoreless frames before turning things over to Ryan Miller. The North Carolina Central right-hander was outstanding, closing the game with three scoreless frames to pick up his first save of the season.
UP NEXT: The Drillers and the Generals will play game two of their three-game series on Saturday night at ONEOK Field. Starting time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. It will be the next-to-last home game of the regular season for the Drillers.
Tickets for the game can be purchased by clicking HERE. In addition, the game can be viewed online with a subscription to TCL-TV.
The starting pitchers are scheduled to be:
Victoria – RHP Zac Leigh (0-1, 5.19 ERA)
Tulsa – RHP Kale Davis (1-0, 0.93 ERA)