'Riders pound Hooks 7-5 for series win

FRISCO, TEXAS (May 11, 2014) - The RoughRiders made mothers around the metroplex happy as they defeated the Hooks in a wild 7-5 Mother's Day win on Sunday afternoon at Dr Pepper Ballpark. Jerad Eickhoff pitched 6.2 strong innings in a no decision and his offense tallied 12 total hits.

The ballgame didn't see much action in the first three frames as Eickhoff retired the first nine batters he faced. His counterpart, Hooks starter David Rollins, was scheduled to pitch two innings and he made them perfect. The lefty retired all six hitters, struck out two and threw 16 of his 25 pitches for strikes.

Eickhoff returned for the fourth and Delino DeShields Jr. continued to make things happen with his bat and his speed. DeShields Jr. laid down a bunt to first and beat out the underhand toss with Eickhoff covering to reach base. Nolan Fontana bunted him over to second and DeShields Jr. then advanced to third on Andrew Aplin's sacrifice fly to right field.

Eickhoff, operating with two outs and DeShields Jr. on third, got Matt Duffy to hit a routine pop up to second baseman Edwin Garcia. A combination of the sun and a high Texas sky caused Garcia to lose sight of the ball and DeShields Jr. scored to make it 1-0.

Preston Tucker capitalized on the mistake and ripped a double to center field in the next at-bat. Duffy scored from first on the play and the Hooks took a 2-0 lead.

'Rider designated hitter Chris Grayson welcomed right-hander Brady Rodgers to the contest with a ground ball single to right. Trever Adams reached first on an infield single to third and Jake Smolinski walked to load the bases without an out being recorded. Tomas Telis continued to stay hot and singled home Grayson to earn his --- RBI and cut the Hooks lead to 2-1.

Ryan Rua followed Telis by putting the ball in play and scored Adams from third on a ground ball double play, which tied the contest at 2-2. Rodgers held the damage to two runs by getting Jake Skole to pop up to short.

One story line going into the game was the professional debut of 17-year-old infielder and switch-hitter Michael De Leon. The young talent dropped a two-out pop up a few inches fair down the third-base line, Texas-league style, and hustled to second base for his first professional base hit. He then scored his first run on Grayson's RBI single to right and the RoughRiders took a 3-2 lead.

Eickhoff gave up a single to Joe Sclafani to begin the seventh inning but rebounded by getting Chris Epps to pop up to center. The 'Riders starter, hoping to go seven innings, received help from Telis who threw out Sclafani trying to steal second. The Hooks (18-18) then used small ball to mount a two-out rally. Telvin Nash walked, DeShields Jr. hit another infield single to third, and Eickhoff's afternoon ended. Jimmy Reyes replaced him on the mound and Fontana doubled home his runners to give Corpus the 4-3 lead.

Frisco was not finished giving the Mother's Day crowd of 5,613 something to cheer about and Skole did the honors by shooting a line drive double to right. Skole scooted to third on a wild pitch and later scored to tie the game at 4-4 on a sky-high pop up off the bat of Teodoro Martinez that dropped behind the third baseman Duffy.

The seesaw battle continued in the next inning when the Hooks used their second two-out rally of the afternoon. Three consecutive singles off of 'Riders hurler Ryan Bores gave Corpus a 5-4 lead.

Frisco (23-12) answered in the bottom of the frame with Grayson's double left and Adams reached first on a fielding error by Nash. Smolinski singled home Grayson to tie the game at 5-5, and the 'Riders snatched the lead 6-5 on Telis' sacrifice fly scoring Adams. Frisco tacked on an insurance run making it 7-5 on Skole's triple to deep let-center to score Smolinski.

Bores (1-0) closed out the high scoring affair with a 5-3 ground ball and De Leon flashed some leather with an impressive double play to send the Hooks home.

The RoughRiders take the show on the road to challenge the Midland RockHounds for a four-game series. Game one is Monday night at 6:05 at Security Bank Ballpark. Right-hander Luke Jackson (3-1, 3.41 ERA) gets the ball for Frisco and takes on Shawn Haviland (1-2, 3.60 ERA). For tickets to see the 'Riders in 2014, call 972-731-9200, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.ridersbaseball.com.