Kouba Picks Up Victory In Triple-A Debut As Space Cowboys Take Down Aces

Five quality innings from RHP Rhett Kouba in his Triple-A debut set the tone for the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (49-76, 16-34) in a 5-1 victory over the Reno Aces (71-54, 27-23) on Saturday night at Constellation Field.

Kouba (W, 1-0) navigated traffic on the bases in each of his first three innings, getting a strikeout to leave men on the corners in the top of the second and a double play to end the top of the third.

Sugar Land gave their starter the lead in the home half of the third. Luke Berryhill singled to left with one out and advanced to second on an error, bringing up Joey Loperfido, who singled to left, driving in Berryhill. A walk to Michael Brantley and a single up the middle by Grae Kessinger loaded the bases, and a Rylan Bannon sacrifice fly put the Space Cowboys up 2-0.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Space Cowboys took advantage of two errors by the Aces. JJ Matijevic walked with one out and César Salazar reached on an error. Berryhill then bounced an infield single up the middle, and a throwing error by Sergio Alcantara open the door for Matijevic to race in and score, widening the Sugar Land lead to 3-0. Brantley capped the scoring for Sugar Land with a double down the right-field line, pushing the Space Cowboys advantage to 5-0.

Kouba allowed his only run of the night in the top of the fifth inning. Jake McCarthy reach on an error, Jordan Lawlar doubled, and after a walk, Kyle Lewis dunked a single into right field, bringing home a run. Kouba struck out Emmanuel Rivera for the first out and then started his third double play of the evening, a 1-2-3 twin killing that ended the fifth. Overall, Kouba allowed just one unearned run on six hits, striking out a pair.

Out of the bullpen, RHP Austin Hansen, RHP Joe Record, RHP Seth Martinez and RHP Enoli Paredes limited the Aces to just three hits over the final four frames, shutting out Reno the rest of the way.

The Space Cowboys conclude their 12-game home stand on Sunday evening. RHP Spencer Arrighetti is scheduled to start the finale opposite RHP Ryne Nelson for a 6:05 pm first pitch at Constellation Field. The game can be heard on ESPN 92.5 FM or online here and seen on MiLB.TV.

*ABOUT THE SUGAR LAND SPACE COWBOYS: *

The Sugar Land Space Cowboys are the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros and compete in the Pacific Coast League. They began play as the Astros Triple-A affiliate in 2021 and began playing under the Space Cowboys brand in 2022. The Space Cowboys play at Constellation Field, located at the corner of Hwy-6 and US-90 Alternate in Sugar Land, Texas. Follow the team on Twitter (@SLSpaceCowboys), Instagram (@slspacecowboys), Facebook (SLSpaceCowboys) and their official website (slspacecowboys.com). Fans can purchase full-season and partial-season plans, as well as single-game tickets, by visiting slspacecowboys.com/tickets.