Corey Julks Reaches 31 Homers in Space Cowboys Season Finale Win

(ROUND ROCK, Texas) – Corey Julks homered twice in the Sugar Land Space Cowboys season finale Wednesday afternoon in Round Rock in a 10-1 win to close out the season at Dell Diamond.

Julks reached 31 homers on the year with his two-homer day and JJ Matijevic added a grand slam in the blowout victory.

Matijevic opened the game’s scoring with a grand slam in the third inning. It gave Matijevic 16 home runs with Sugar Land for the second straight season. It was the eighth grand slam from the Space Cowboys this season. Through his final four games of the season, Matijevic hit .500 (7x14) with two home runs and 11 RBI.

Julks became the first player in Sugar Land history to reach the 30-homer mark with a three-run homer in the fourth inning. He extended his franchise single-season record total with a solo home run in the sixth. Julks – who was named the Space Cowboys 2020 Player of the Year last week – finished the season tied fourth of all Triple A players with 31 home runs. He also led all Houston Astros minor leaguers with his 31 home runs.

The last Astros minor leaguer to reach 30 home runs was Kyle Tucker, who hit 34 home runs in 2019.

Brandon Bielak started the game for the Space Cowboys and struck out five batters through three innings, allowing one run. Jon Olczak, Colin McKee, Shawn Dubin, Joe Record and Parker Mushinski combined to finish out the contest with scoreless relief.

The Space Cowboys scored five runs in the fourth, with Edwin Diaz delivering an RBI and Pedro León adding an RBI double.

With the win, the Space Cowboys finished the season 73-74 and in fourth place in the East Division of the Pacific Coast League. Through two seasons as the Triple A affiliate of the Houston Astros, Sugar Land has gone 146-126, winning the East Division of Triple A West in 2021.

The Space Cowboys open their 2023 schedule on March 31 with a three-game road series in El Paso.