Missions Mount Late Comeback, Hang on to Defeat RockHounds 

MIDLAND, Texas (May 17, 2025) – With two outs in the ninth inning and the tying-run 90-feet away, Manuel Castro fanned Caeden Trenkle to pick up his fourth save of the season and secure a 7-6 win for the San Antonio Missions (19-19) over the Midland RockHounds (22-16). After losing the first three games this week, the Missions will enter Sunday with a chance to split the series with their longtime rival.

San Antonio trailed 4-2 in the seventh inning, but five runs in that frame handed the Missions a lead they managed to hold. Braden Nett finished six innings for the first time in 2025 and earned the win while Mitch Myers took the loss for Midland.

San Antonio got off to a fast start again in the first inning against Midland starter Luis Morales. Moisès Gòmez split the gap with a double to drive in one, but Romeo Sanabria did get thrown out trying to make it 2-0. Cody Roberts picked him up, however, singling in Gòmez to indeed give the Missions a 2-0 lead in the first.

Nett set down the RockHounds in the first but then faced trouble in the second. Luke Mann whipped a homer to left field before Trenkle and Colby Halter each knocked in a run with RBI singles, giving the RockHounds a 3-2 lead. Carter Aldrete added a solo homer in the fourth, doubling Midland’s lead and allowing Morales to settle in.

Morales set down 13 consecutive Missions from the second inning into the sixth. He worked around a two-out Devin Ortiz single to complete six innings, but when he handed the game to the bullpen, the Missions took full advantage of fresh faces.

First it was Myers, who was greeted by a Kai Murphy single. Marcos Castañon continued the warm welcome by wrecking a game-tying homer onto the left field berm. Castañon’s blast went 451-feet and was hit 111mph. A Wyatt Hoffman single knocked Myers out of the tied game, but the success didn’t stop for San Antonio.

When Colton Johnson took over, he walked three straight batters to bring in a run. Gòmez then lifted a sacrifice fly, and Ortiz delivered a two-out RBI single to expand San Antonio’s advantage to 7-4.

Eduarniel Nùñez replaced Nett with a new lead in hand, and he put up an electric seventh inning with three consecutive strikeouts while reaching 100mph with ease. Nùñez came back out for the eighth and let the first two men he faced reach base, forcing San Antonio to bring in Jake Higginbotham. The lefty gave up an RBI single to Drew Swift but got two big outs before Castro entered.

Castro immediately ended the threat and sent the game to the ninth with the Missions ahead 7-5. The offense couldn’t add more, so Castro had to keep hanging onto the two-run lead.

Things got dicey in the ninth when Shane McGuire drove in a run with a single and advanced to third on a Carter Aldrete hit, representing the tying run. That’s when Castro settled down and blew strike three right by Trenkle to seal San Antonio’s 7-6 victory.

UP NEXT:

The Missions conclude their six-game series in Midland with a 1:00 p.m. first pitch on Sunday. Right-hander Enmanuel Pinales (3-2, 4.45) goes for San Antonio while righty Chen Zhong-Ao Zhuang starts for the RockHounds. Catch all the action on Country Legends KKYX, 680 AM, 104.9 FM and kkyx.com.

#

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 123 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.