Riders capture game one road win over Amarillo in 10-inning classic

AMARILLO, Texas (September 15, 2026) - In game one of the 2026 Texas League South Division series, the Frisco RoughRiders beat the Amarillo Sod Poodles 8-7 in 10 innings and are now one win away from a berth in the Texas League Championship Series.

Box Score

After both teams put up zeroes in the first inning, Frisco (1-0) scored three times against Amarillo (0-1) starter Junior Sanchez in the second on home runs from Gleider Figuereo and Paxton Kling to take a 3-0 lead.

Aidan Curry started for the Riders and pitched a scoreless second inning, before surrendering his first run in the third. Frisco’s offense helped him out with a Max Wagner RBI single in the fourth to take a 4-1 advantage. Ben McLaughlin answered with an Amarillo solo home run that cut it to 4-2.

With a 4-3 lead into the eighth inning, Frisco added on when Marcus Lee Sang doubled in two runs on a line drive to the left-field wall. Rafe Perich followed with an RBI single to make it 7-3.

Amarillo plated four runs in the final two innings to tie the game at seven, but Josh Trentadue and Jonathan Brand (1-0) punched out back-to-back hitters to strand the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning and force extras.

Against Carlos Rey in the tenth, Frisco scored the eventual winning run on a wild pitch by Carlos Rey (0-1), before Brand locked down the 8-7 win by inducing a flyout to the warning track.

Notes to Know:

• Curry contributed four strong innings in his start, allowing just two earned runs with four strikeouts and without a walk.

• Figuereo and Kling played just 14 combined regular season games with the RoughRiders, but both homered in their first postseason plate appearances. Kling had three total hits.

• Frisco used seven pitchers in the win: Curry, Austin Roberts, Leandro Lopez, Bryan Magdaleno, Kai Wynyard, Trentadue and Brand.

After winning the first game of the best-of-three series, Frisco will now head home to Riders Field and needs just one win in the remaining two games to advance to the Texas League Championship Series. Game two will take place Thursday, September 17 at 7:05 p.m.

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 and the 2022 Texas League champions. In 2023, the team celebrated its 20th anniversary and has consistently finished in the top five among all Double-A franchises in attendance yearly. 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, Bullpen Bar, 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 225 former RoughRiders players have gone on to play Major League Baseball including current Rangers Jack Leiter, Evan Carter and Wyatt Langford. For more information on the Frisco RoughRiders, please visit RidersBaseball.com or contact [email protected].