Gelof’s Blast Gives Drillers Dramatic Walk-Off Win
Tulsa OK – Friday’s game at ONEOK Field between the Tulsa Drillers and the Arkansas Travelers featured a pitching matchup between a pair of highly-ranked prospects, neither of which had given up a run this season. But the star of the night was not a pitcher. Tulsa’s Jake Gelof, who
Tulsa OK – Friday’s game at ONEOK Field between the Tulsa Drillers and the Arkansas Travelers featured a pitching matchup between a pair of highly-ranked prospects, neither of which had given up a run this season. But the star of the night was not a pitcher. Tulsa’s Jake Gelof, who entered the game without a hit this season, delivered three on the night, including a walk-off, two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning that turned a one-run deficit for the Drillers into a 5-4 victory.
The homer marked the only lead of the night for the Drillers who improved their season record to 9-3 with the dramatic victory.
Tulsa’s Patrick Copen and Arkansas’ Kade Anderson both lost their scoreless streaks, but both pitched effectively.
The Drillers trailed most of the night after the Travelers scored single runs in both the second and third innings.
They were eventually down 4-1 after five innings before beginning their comeback in the bottom of the sixth.
Tulsa cut its deficit to just two runs in the sixth when Kendall George again singled, then advanced all the way to third on an errant pickoff throw from catcher Nick Raposo. George came home on a one-out single from Kyle Nevin.
The Drillers crept even closer with another run in the bottom of the eighth when Gelof led off with his second hit of the game. He advanced to second on a ground out, setting up an RBI-single from Josue De Paula that cut the Travs lead to just 4-3.
In the bottom of the ninth, Griffin Lockwood-Powell led off the inning with a double. Pinch runner Kole Myers remained at second when Joe Vetrano flied out to right field, but he advanced to third when Yeiner Fernandez grounded out to second, bringing Gelof the plate.
Arkansas reliever Jimmy Kingsbury started him off with a called strike before missing with his next two pitches. On the 2-1 offering Gelof connected for a drive that appeared off the bat as if it would be tracked down by centerfielder Bill Knight. But, Knight ran out of room as the blast carried 426 feet before landing beyond the fence just to the right of straightaway centerfield.
For much of the game, a strong south wind had been blowing in from centerfield as a cold front approached the Tulsa area. But, the flags in centerfield were hardly moving when the drive from Gelof took off with a 104 m.p.h. exit velocity.
JAKE GELOF 2-RUN HOME RUN TO WALK IT OFF FOR A DRILLERS WIN! pic.twitter.com/85zu3fDk0g
— Tulsa Drillers (@TulsaDrillers) April 18, 2026
Starting pitchers Patrick Copen of Tulsa and Kade Anderson of Arkansas both entered the game without having surrendered a run this season, but both streaks came to an end.
Despite the end of the two impressive streaks, both starters pitched effectively. Copen, who is ranked as the #29 prospect in the Los Angeles Dodgers minor league system, was charged with four runs in 4.1 innings, but only three were earned. He finished his outing with a 1.72 ERA for the season.
Anderson, who was the #3 pick in last summer’s amateur draft and is rated the #2 prospect in the Seattle Mariners farm system, was charged with one run in five complete innings. He departed with a 0.64 ERA.
Tulsa reliever Nick Robertson picked up the win, his second of the season. Robertson retired the Travelers in order in the top of the ninth, striking out the side.
Kingsbury was charged with the loss, dropping his record to 0-2.
GAME NOTES
*Gelof, who is the brother of Athletics infielder Zack Gelof, also doubled in the third, giving him a three-hit game. He entered the game hitless in 18 at-bats this season.
*George and De Paula finished with two hits each in the game.
*Hope finished 0-3, snapping his 10-game hitting streak. It was the first game this season that he did not have a hit.
UP NEXT
The Drillers and Travelers will be back in action on Saturday with a doubleheader at ONEOK Field. The first game of the twin bill will begin at 4:30 p.m. with game two starting 30 minutes after conclusion of the opener, but not before 7:00 p.m. The starting pitchers are scheduled to be:
ARK- RHP Ryan Sloan (0-1, 4.50 ERA) & LHP Nico Tellache (0-1, 5.63 ERA)
TUL – LHP Wyatt Crowell (1-0, 0.00 ERA) & RHP Payton Martin (0-1, 10.13 ERA)