OKC Splits Doubleheader with Round Rock Thursday

Game 1

Oklahoma City Baseball Club — 6

Round Rock Express — 1

Game 2

Round Rock Express — 11

Oklahoma City Baseball Club — 10

Thursday, June 6, 2024 – Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark – Oklahoma City, Okla.

Game Summary: The Oklahoma City Baseball Club split a doubleheader against the Round Rock Express Thursday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, winning the first game, 6-1, and losing the second game, 11-10.

In Game 1, Round Rock took the first lead of the night after four straight Express batters reached with two outs on a double and three walks to bring in a run for a 1-0 lead. Oklahoma City answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning to take the lead. Drew Avans scored on a sacrifice fly by James Outman to tie the score, 1-1. Ryan Ward later connected on a three-run homer out to left-center field for a 4-1 advantage. Austin Gauthier added a two-run double in the fifth inning to extend OKC to a 6-1 lead.

The Express scored six runs in their first at-bat in what would be a back-and-forth Game 2. Dustin Harris hit a solo home run to give Round Rock the early lead. Then later in the inning, Sam Huff lined a bases-clearing double into left field and Jonathan Ornelas hit a RBI single for a 6-0 Express advantage. In the bottom of the first inning, Trey Sweeney connected on a grand slam out to left field to cut the lead to two runs. Oklahoma City then scored four runs in the second inning to take the lead. Andre Lipcius hit a RBI single and OKC tied the score, 6-6, on a RBI double by James Outman. Kody Hoese added a two-RBI single to put OKC in front, 8-6. Round Rock later posted five runs in the sixth inning to take an 11-8 lead, including a solo home run by Sandro Fabian and a two-RBI triple by Jax Biggers. Drew Avans connected on a two-run homer in the sixth inning for OKC to cut the lead to one run, 11-10.

Of Note:

-Round Rock took a 2-1 lead in the series and Oklahoma City has now lost three of the last five games after winning nine of the previous 12 games.

-Trey Sweeney hit safely in both games of the doubleheader, going a combined 3-for-7 with a grand slam, a double and two runs scored. Game 2 marked the third time in the last eight games Sweeney finished a game with four or more RBI…His grand slam in Game 2 was OKC’s third of the season and first since May 12.

-Kody Hoese also hit safely in both games Thursday, going 3-for-7 with a double, two RBI and scored three runs. He has now hit safely in seven of his last eight games, going 14-for-33 (.424) with five doubles, seven RBI and nine runs scored.

-Chris Owings went 2-for-3 with a double and scored two runs in Game 2 to extend his hitting streak to seven games — the longest active streak by an OKC player. During the stretch, Owings is 14-for-28 (.500) with six RBI and five runs scored.

-The 10 runs scored by OKC in Game 2 marked the most runs OKC has scored in a loss this season and most since an 11-10 defeat against Tacoma at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark Sept. 16, 2023.

-Ryan Ward hit a three-run home run in Game 1 for his 16th home run of the season to move into sole possession of the PCL lead in home runs.

-Oklahoma City hit three home runs over the two games with Ryan Ward homering in Game 1 and Trey Sweeney and Drew Avans hitting homers in Game 2. OKC has now homered in a season-high nine consecutive games (19 HR).

-OKC allowed one run in the first inning of Game 1 before holding the Express scoreless over the final six innings of the game…In Game 2, the Express scored all 11 of their runs in just two innings with six runs scoring in the first inning and five runs in the sixth inning. It marked the first time since July 2, 2022 in El Paso that OKC allowed five or more runs in two separate innings of the same game. In that 2022 road game, OKC allowed five runs in the fifth inning and six runs in the eighth inning as El Paso won, 18-5.

-James Outman’s 13-game on-base streak came to an end in Game 1. He finished the game with a sacrifice fly and made a catch at the wall in center field to prevent a Round Rock home run. In Game 2, he hit a double, scored two runs, had a walk and RBI.

-Austin Gauthier went 2-for-2 in Game 1 with a double, walk and two RBI.

-Game 1 had a delayed start of 49 minutes due to potential inclement weather in the metro area.

-Thursday was OKC’s second doubleheader of the season and second against the Express after the teams played a doubleheader in Round Rock April 10…Tuesday night’s series opener was suspended and completed Wednesday, moving Wednesday’s originally scheduled game to Thursday to allow maximum time for field conditions to improve prior to resuming the suspended game.

Next Up: The series between Oklahoma City and Round Rock continues at 7:05 p.m. Friday at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark on Salute to Armed Forces Night presented by Casey’s. Current and former local military personnel and their families will be celebrated throughout the evening and players and coaches will take the field in special commemorative camouflage jerseys and hats. Friday Night Fireworks presented by Casey’s are scheduled to follow the game. Tickets for OKC home games for the remainder of the season are available now at okcbaseball.com/tickets. Live radio coverage of each OKC Baseball Club game begins 15 minutes before first pitch on AM 1340 "The Game," 1340thegame.com and through the free iHeartRadio or MiLB First Pitch apps.