De Paula’s Career Night Gives Drillers Rare Win in Springfield

Springfield, MO – Springfield’s Hammons Field has not been kind to the Tulsa Drillers in recent seasons, but they were able to produce a bit of revenge on Wednesday night. The Drillers scored in each of the first six innings against the Cardinals with Josue De Paula providing much of the damage. The end result was a 10-4 victory for the Drillers.

Tulsa was winless in seven games at Hammons Field last season and lost Tuesday’s series-opener at the stadium. Over the last two-plus seasons, the Drillers are now just 5-15 in their past 20 games in Springfield.

BOXSCORE

De Paula enjoyed the biggest game of his professional career in the victory. The outfielder totaled four hits, including his first home run of the season, and finished with five runs batted in. The four hits matched his career high while the five RBI established a new career high.

The big night for De Paula and the Drillers started early. In the top of the first inning, Kendall George and De Paula opened the game with consecutive singles, and George scored the game’s first run when De Paula was thrown out attempting to steal second base.

Tulsa added four more runs in the second with George and De Paula both delivering two-run singles.

Staked with the five-run lead, Drillers starting pitcher Luke Fox uncharacteristically opened the bottom of the second by walking the inning’s first two batters on eight pitches. It set up a four-run inning for the Redbirds that cut Tulsa’s lead to just 5-4.

Elijah Hainline promptly got one of the runs back when he led off the third with his second home run of the year. It would be the first of five straight runs for the Drillers.

The offense continued in the top of the fourth as Kole Myers drew a leadoff walk, stole second and scored on another RBI single from De Paula.

Hainline singled and scored on a wild pitch in the fifth before De Paula capped off his big night with a two-run homer in the sixth that increased the Drillers lead to 10-4.

De Paula was finally retired in the eighth inning when he lined out to deep centerfield.

At that point, the Drillers did not need any more offense as the bullpen turned in an impressive performance to protect the lead. Four relievers combined to hold the Cardinals scoreless on only one hit over the final five innings.

GAME NOTES

*The loss was the first of the year for Springfield (4-1) while Tulsa improved its record to 3-2.

*De Paula has hit safely in four of the first five games this season. After his four-hit game, he is now hitting .364 with 8 hits in 22 at-bats. He has one home run and seven runs driven in.

*Hainline also enjoyed a big night, going 3-4, including his third-inning homer. The Oregon State product has hit safely in all five games this season with a .368 batting average.

*George had his third multi-hit game of the season, raising his average to .364. He has four stolen bases and scored seven runs.

*The big win snapped an eight-game losing streak at Hammons Field for the Drillers. Their last win in Springfield came on August 26, 2024.

*Fox recovered from the tough second inning to hold the Redbirds without a hit over his final two innings. The left-hander did not work the mandatory five innings to qualify for the victory, departing after 4.0 innings. He was charged with four runs on three hits and three walks while striking out five.

*An impressive streak came to end in the victory. Chris Newell was thrown out attempting to steal second base in the fifth inning on a failed hit and run attempt. It was the first time he had been caught stealing in three seasons with the Drillers, snapping a streak of 32 straight successful steals that dated back to the 2024 season.

*Five Tulsa pitchers combined for 10 strikeouts while allowing just 4 hits.

*Nick Robertson was credited with the win after working a perfect fifth inning. It was his first victory with the Drillers since May 10, 2022 when he topped Frisco.

UP NEXT

The Drillers and Cards will play the third game of their six-game series in Springfield on Thursday night. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. and the starting pitchers are expected to be:

TUL – LHP Adam Serwinowski (0-1, 11.27 ERA)
SPR – SHP Jurrangelo Cijntje (1-0, 0.00)