Karpathios Walks-it-Off to Give Missions Their First Home Win

SAN ANTONIO (April 11, 2026) — Braedon Karpathios emerged as a hero in the tenth inning for the San Antonio Missions (2-6) as his line drive single brought automatic runner Kai Roberts home to walk-it-off against the Corpus Christi Hooks (4-4). The Missions trailed 3-1 in the bottom of the ninth, but a pair of runs sent the game to extras, where the Missions eventually earned their first win at the Wolff this season in front of a sold-out crowd by a score of 4-3.

A theme in back-to-back games for the Corpus Christi Hooks pitching staff has been defensive efficiency at the mound, and Brett Gillis kept the San Antonio Missions offense mostly in check through 4.2 innings. On the other end, Missions starter Ian Koenig kicked off his debut at the Wolff rolling with a 1-2-3 first. The San Jose native struck out four batters and had a pick off before running into some conflict. He surrendered an unearned run off an uncommon Francisco Acuña fielding error, and two home runs by Tommy Sacco Jr. and John Garcia gave the Hooks an early 3-1 lead.

Hooks shortstop Tommy Sacco Jr. was doing it all for the Hooks and was a human fielding highlight reel, denying any opportunities for San Antonio to get on base in the second securing a flyout, followed by a difficult pop out grab and finishing it off with a pickoff of Ryan Jackson at second base. Sacco Jr. would keep surging late in the contest with a single and a stolen base to total four in the series.

Missions third baseman Luis Verdugo would punch back in the bottom of the third with a sharp line drive down the left field foul line to send himself hustling to second base. 19-year-old Ethan Salas singled down the opposite side of the field to bring Verdugo home, cutting the deficit to one run.

Roberts kept the hope of a comeback brewing in the Wolff as he seized his opportunity for stealing extra bases after a ground ball single and a throwing error from Bush in the bottom of the fifth sent him to third base. Roberts rolled the dice to dive for home plate off a wild pitch from Alejandro Torres, but was caught just in time to keep Corpus ahead.

Amilcar Chirinos looked to put away San Antonio after six straight scoreless innings from the Hooks’ staff, but it turned into a late game rally that started off the bat of Tirso Ornelas with a single. Romeo Sanabria then flew a ball to left field that just got by Luis Baez, landing as a double to put two Missions in scoring position. An Acuña groundout sent Ornelas home to score, and pinch runner Carson Tucker would follow off a wild pitch from Chirinos to even the score 3-3 to extend the battle into extra innings.

Tucker, having just entered as a pinch runner, took over in right field. He was tested immediately, as Garcia lifted a fly ball with runners at the corners. Tucker caught it and threw a bullet to throw out Yamal Encarnacion at the plate, keeping the game tied for the bottom of the tenth.

Roberts was placed on second base to begin the tenth, and he stole another base to set up Karpathios for the game-winning swing. Karpathios lined one to left, and by the time it fell, 7,551 fans erupted for the Missions’ first home victory of the season.

Up Next:

The Missions and Hooks conclude their six-game series tomorrow at 1:05 p.m. Lefty Luis Gutierrez goes for the Missions against lefty Trey Dombroski for the Hooks. It is Military Appreciation Day at The Wolff. Service members who show a military ID get four free tickets. Catch all the action on Country Legends KKYX, 680 AM, 104.9 FM and kkyx.com. Tickets are available at samissions.com or by calling 210-675-7275.

***

The San Antonio Missions are the Double-A affiliate for the San Diego Padres. The Missions were established in 1888 and have brought affordable family fun to the Alamo City for more than 120 seasons. The 13-time Texas League champions play their home games at Nelson W. Wolff Municipal Stadium. For more information and tickets, call 210-675-7275 or visit samissions.com.