ROUND ROCK, Texas - The Round Rock Express (20-28) held off a late Iowa Cubs (16-29) comeback attempt to record a slim 5-4 victory in Thursday night's series finale at Dell Diamond. All four games in the series were decided by just one run.Round Rock RHP Samir Vivas (1-0, 1.50) earned
ROUND ROCK, Texas - The Round Rock Express (20-28) held off a late Iowa Cubs (16-29) comeback attempt to record a slim 5-4 victory in Thursday night's series finale at Dell Diamond. All four games in the series were decided by just one run.
Round Rock RHP Samir Vivas (1-0, 1.50) earned his first career Triple-A victory after holding Iowa to just one run on three hits while striking out three in 3.0 innings of work. On the losing side, I-Cubs starter RHP Adbert Alzolay (2-4, 5.30) surrendered all five E-Train runs on nine hits and three walks in 5.0 innings. Express starter RHP Deolis Guerra tossed two perfect innings before turning action over to the bullpen.
Round Rock jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second as 3B Christian Lopes , RF Scott Heineman and C Cameron Rupp tallied three straight singles, the latest of which put the Express on the board. An ensuing Destin Hood sacrifice fly doubled the lead to 2-0.
Iowa cut their deficit in half in the fourth inning thanks to an Efren Navarro single followed by a run-scoring double off the bat of CF Jacob Hannemann . The Express answered right back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame. Heineman led off with a single, then SS Nick Noonan drove in a run with a double. A two-out Willie Calhoun RBI single padded the Express advantage to 4-1.
In the fifth, E-Train 1B Tommy Joseph singled and moved to second on a Lopes sacrifice bunt. After a Heineman single that left runners on the corners, Rupp poked a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Joseph to make it 5-1.
With rehabbing Texas Rangers RHP Ricky Rodriguez on the hill in the sixth inning, Iowa began their comeback attempt as Navarro sent SS Mike Freeman flying home with a sacrifice fly to right.
Two innings later, Express RHP Adrian Sampson surrendered an RBI single to Navarro that brought Iowa within 5-3. The final run of the evening came in the ninth inning as Hannemann worked a leadoff walk off Round Rock closer RHP R.J. Alvarez . The speedy outfielder moved to third on a Taylor Davis single then scored on a Bijan Rademacher sacrifice fly. Alvarez recovered to retire the final two hitters in order to preserve the 5-4 victory.
Round Rock now heads north for their first series of the season against the Omaha Storm Chasers. Express LHP David Hurlbut (1-3, 4.91) is scheduled to face Storm Chasers RHP Trevor Oaks (2-3, 2.68). First pitch at Werner Park in Papillion, Nebraska is set for 7:05 p.m.
For more information on the Express, visit RoundRockExpress.com or call (512) 255-2255. Keep up with the Express on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter!
