Wild Ninth Inning Ends With Walk-Off Win For Soddies

AMARILLO, TX (July 28, 2026) -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (14-14, 50-46) defeated the San Antonio Missions (13-15, 44-53), 5-4, on Tuesday night at HODGETOWN. The Missions took a 4-3 lead on Francisco Acuna’s clutch three-run blast down to their last out, but Amarillo would have the last laugh and walk off San Antonio in the series opener.

Soddies starting pitcher Billy Corcoran worked around a baserunner in each of his first two innings of work, including when he induced a double play after the leadoff batter walked to open the top of the second. That twin killing limited the damage that would come on Albert Fabian’s opposite-field homer in the next at-bat to give the Missions a 1-0 lead.

The Sod Poodles offense had the leadoff man reach in each of the first three innings but could not break through against southpaw Jamie Hitt until the bottom of the fourth. Jansel Luis led off the frame with a double that eventually led to a pair of runners on base with two outs. Amarillo put together a two-out rally, stringing together RBI singles by Jean Walters and Junior Franco to tie the game and take a 2-1 lead.

Hitt was very efficient with his pitch count and was able to work deep into the game, but was greeted by a Ben McLaughlin solo homer off the batter’s eye to extend Amarillo’s advantage to begin his sixth and final inning of work.

On the other side it was a bullpen game for the Sod Poodles, who used five pitchers to hold the Missions offense in check for most of the night. After Corcoran finished 2.2 innings pitched allowing just one run, he handed the ball off to left-hander Nate Savino, who was even better by retiring eight San Antonio hitters without allowing hit.

Alec Baker was next in relief and bridged the Sod Poodles through the sixth and seventh innings, retiring the next six Missions in a row after allowing a single to the first batter he faced. Exiting with one away in the top of the eighth, southpaw Carlos Rey was called upon to retire the two left-handed bats in San Antonio’s lineup, and did just that by catching Ethan Salas looking for a strikeout and getting Tirso Ornelas to roll over for the final out of the frame.

Alfred Morillo entered in a save opportunity in the top of the ninth inning, but allowed the tying run to reach base in the form of Ryan Jackson after a one-out single. The flamethrower caught Fabian looking for the second out of the frame, but left a first-pitch offering over the heart of the plate that Acuna did not miss for a go-ahead three-run blast.

However, it proved that neither bullpen would be able to slam the door in the ninth as the Soddies responded against Francis Pena, starting with a Walters leadoff walk. A balk moved the tying run into scoring position, which allowed him to score easily on a Franco double to the right field corner.

Trent Youngblood moved the winning run 90 feet from home on a well-executed sac bunt.
Druw Jones was next to bat and grounded a ball just deep enough in the hole that a diving Acuna could not corral to drive in Franco for the walk-off win.

POSTGAME NOTES

NATE THE GREAT: Nate Savino was first out of the Amarillo bullpen on Tuesday and worked around a walk in each of the fourth and fifth innings to toss 2.2 no-hit frames...it was the longest hitless outing of Savino’s career.

I’M McLAUGHLIN IT: A solo home run in the bottom of the sixth inning continued what has been a great season at the plate for Ben McLaughlin in the fifth and sixth innings of games this season...he is batting .351 with a 1.060 OPS in those frames, compared to a .204 average and .611 OPS in all other innings.