Sod Poodles Secure Series Win With 7-5 Win Over Midland

Midland, Texas (June 9, 2023) – The Amarillo Sod Poodles overcame an early hole to secure the series win over the RockHounds, winning 7-5 for their fourth straight road game to begin the series.

Midland jumped out to a four-run lead in part to a pair of Amarillo errors in the bottom of the first inning. The RockHounds managed a pair of hits off Sod Poodles starter Deyni Olivero, but all four runs in the opening frame would be unearned.

Roby Enriquez doubled and later scored on a Ryan Bliss sac fly in the top of the third inning. Midland answered the Sod Poodles' run, scoring one of their own on a couple of hits, putting Amarillo back in a four-run hole.

Nothing came of Enriquez's second hit of the night after he led off the fifth with a single.

Jordan Lawlar tripled to begin the sixth. A walk and single scored Lawlar and moved A.J. Vukovich to third base to put runners on the corners. A wild pitch scored Vukovich from third to cut the deficit to just two. Deyvison De Los Santos launched a no-doubter to center field to cap a four-run sixth inning to tie the game at 5-5.

Olivero worked around a two-out single in the bottom of the sixth to keep the game knotted at five a piece. A Bliss ground-rule double was followed by two quick outs in the top of the seventh inning. Caleb Roberts refused to leave Bliss stranded, hitting a two-out triple to give Amarillo their first lead of the night.

Left-hander Jake Rice replaced Olivero and worked a 1-2-3 inning to help maintain the Sod Poodles lead. The first two Amarillo batters reached in the top of the eighth, but nothing came of the base runners as a double play and ground out kept it at a 6-5 advantage.

Jackson Goddard helped to keep a two-out double left stranded on base, inducing a ground out to end the RockHounds' half of the eighth.

Bliss tallied his second hit of the night, starting the top of the ninth with a single into center field. Amarillo's second hit of the final inning put runners on the corners following a fielder's choice to erase Bliss from the bases. An intentional rundown cut down Vukovich from first but gave Lawlar enough time to break to the plate and extend Amarillo's lead to two runs.

Kyle Backhus was the fourth arm used of the night and proceeded to strike out the first man he faced. A walk and fly out put the RockHounds down to their final out. A soft ground ball to Bliss was flipped to Lawlar covering second to secure Amarillo's fourth straight win, and the series win over the RockHounds.

Game five of the six-game series in Midland continues on Saturday night as Jeff Bain (1-2, 5.53 ERA) will look to secure Amarillo's second five-game win streak of the season. First pitch from Momentum Bank Ballpark is slated for 7:00 p.m. on Saturday night.

NOTES:

ROAD WARRIORS: Amarillo won their fourth straight game in Midland to start the series and are winners of each of their last six road games dating back to the final two games in San Antonio on May 27-28.

EVERYBODY HITS: For the third time this season, and the first since May 5 in Corpus Christi, every single Amarillo starter recorded at least one hit. The Sod Poodles collected a total of 13 hits, including their first two triple game of the year. Jordan Lawlar and Caleb Roberts each tripled in Friday night's game, their 2nd and fourth triples respectively. Roberts now leads the club with his four three-baggers in 2023

QUALITY STUFF: Deyni Olivero picked up his third win of the year, going 6.0 IP with five runs allowed, but only one being earned after the two errors in the bottom of the first inning. Olivero has now pitched at least 6.0 IP in 18 of his pro starts, and has a quality start in all but one of those games. Olivero now has consecutive quality starts, tossing six innings of one-run ball in Game 2 of the Sod Poodles and Cardinals doubleheader last Saturday night.

BULLPEN BULLIES:The Amarillo bullpen has not yielded an earned run in the last 11.1 IP of this series since Kyle Backhus took over in the ninth inning of game one on Tuesday night. The bullpen has four hits to the RockHounds in the same span.