Thomas Belts Three Homers in Drillers Win

SPRINGFIELD, MO - Baseballs were flying out of Hammons Field in Wednesday afternoon's game between the Tulsa Drillers and the Springfield Cardinals. Between the two teams, a total of nine home runs were tallied, including an historic three homers by former University of Oklahoma quarterback Cody Thomas in the Drillers 10-7 victory over the host Cards. Jared Walker, Zach McKinstry and Gavin Lux also had long-balls for Tulsa.
Thomas joins Fernando Tatis Sr., Travis Hafner, Craig Monroe, Jason Moore and Jacob Scavuzzo in the history books as the only Drillers to have hit three homers in a game. The outfielder was a perfect 4-4 on the day with five RBI.
GAME REPORT:
In the top of the first with runners at first and second, Zach Reks lined a run-scoring single to right field to get the scoring started. Cardinals outfielder Shane Billings limited the damage by making a nice throw home to get Keibert Ruiz attempting to score.
Walker led off the top of the second with a line drive home run right down the right field line, his first of the season. A couple of batters later, Thomas crushed a ball over the center field wall to bring the score to 3-0.
 
Springfield quickly evened things up in the bottom of the second. After a pair of singles put runners at the corners, Elehuris Montero grounded a ball to third for an RBI. A batter later, Scott Hurst homered to even the score at 3-3.
 
The Drillers regained the lead with three solo-home runs. In the fourth, Thomas smashed his second long ball of the day, and in the fifth, Lux and McKinstry hit back-to-back jacks to bring the Tulsa lead to 6-3.
In the sixth, Lux knocked in his second run of the day with a sharp double to left center.
An inning later, a walk and a single set things up for Thomas. He put the game out of reach by launching his third home run of the day, extending the Drillers lead to 10-3.
Michael Boyle appeared out of the Drillers pen in the top of the eighth, and ran into trouble. With two Cardinals on base, Shane Billings hit a three-run homer and Chris Chinea followed with a solo-shot, cutting the deficit to 10-7.
The Cardinals got the tying run to the plate in the ninth to make things interesting. Luis Vasquez was called upon to get the final out of the game and did just that, striking out Montero for his first save of the season.
HOT AT THE PLATE:
Lux notched two more hits on Wednesday, bringing his batting average to .400. He has multi-hit games in six of the ten he has played this season.
Thomas was a perfect 4-4 with three homers and five RBI on the day. His 13 RBI lead the team and are tied for second most in the Texas League.
OTHER NOTES:
Austin Hamilton got the start on the mound for Tulsa. He threw 3.2 innings and gave up three earned runs while striking out two.
Shea Spitzbarth and Parker Curry tossed a combined 3.1 scoreless innings out of the Drillers bullpen.
The Drillers pounded a total of 12 home runs during the three-game series in Springfield.
The win brings the Drillers to a game above .500 at 7-6. They now sit in second place in the Texas League North, three games behind the division-leading Arkansas Travelers.
UP NEXT: Arkansas at Tulsa, Thursday, April 18, 7:05 PM at ONEOK Field in Tulsa, OK. LHP Anthony Misiewicz (0-1, 1.80 ERA) vs. RHP J.D. Martin (0-1, 5.06 ERA).