Round Rock Drops Series Opener in Sugar Land, 6-4

SUGAR LAND, Tex. - BOX SCORE

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The E-Train took an early lead with a run on two hits in the first. CF Evan Carter singled on a grounder. DH Trevor Hauver doubled down the left field line sending Carter around for a 1-0 lead. Sugar Land’s rebuttal came in the bottom of the second with two home runs. A solo shot from SS Jesús Bastidas and a three-run homer by DH Zack Short sent the Space Cowboys ahead, 4-1.

Round Rock cut into the Sugar Land lead in the third. 1B Blaine Crim scored from first on Carter’s triple into the right-center gap. The Express still trailed 4-2 in the third. Bastidas notched his second extra-base hit in the bottom of the third scoring 3B Luis Guillorme who got on with a walk. The Space Cowboys extended their lead to 5-2.

In the fifth, Sugar Land 1B Collin Price put another on the board with a solo home run for a 6-2 Space Cowboys advantage. The Express plated two in the top of the seventh. C Tucker Barnhart sent a double into the right field corner scoring Hauver from first. Later, with runners at the corners, LF Jonathan Ornelas hit a sacrifice fly to center field and Tucker Barnhart came across cutting the Round Rock deficit to 6-4 but the Express were kept quiet the rest of the way falling 604.

E-TRAIN EXCERPTS:

FESTA’S FIRING: RHP Matt Festa threw 1.2 innings of relief allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out two Space Cowboys in Tuesday’s opener. Festa has now thrown 14.2 innings without surrendering a run in 2025 which is the longest streak in professional baseball.

CRIM QUIETLY WORKING: 1B Blaine Crim came in for Round Rock in the bottom of the first after 2B Sam Haggerty was hit by a pitch. Crim went 1-for-3 and now has a hit in eight of his last nine and 23 of his last 27 games. He owns a nine-game on-base streak and has reached base in 26 of 27 games.

NEXT GAME: Wednesday, April 30 at Sugar Land FIRST PITCH: 11:05 a.m. CT BALLPARK: Constellation Field

For more information about the Express, visit RRExpress.com or call (512) 255-2255. Subscribe to the E-Train email newsletter and keep up with the Express on Facebook, Instagram and X!