Nevin and Hainline Back Shutout Effort from Copen
Tulsa, OK – For the second time in three games this season, the Tulsa Drillers got an impressive outing from a starting pitcher. On Saturday night at ONEOK Field, Patrick Copen turned in five shutout innings, while Kyle Nevin and Elijah Hainline delivered homers in a 4-0 win over San
Tulsa, OK – For the second time in three games this season, the Tulsa Drillers got an impressive outing from a starting pitcher. On Saturday night at ONEOK Field, Patrick Copen turned in five shutout innings, while Kyle Nevin and Elijah Hainline delivered homers in a 4-0 win over San Antonio.
The victory gave the Drillers two wins and a series win in their season-opening series with the Missions.
Starting pitcher Luke Fox allowed just one run in six innings on Thursday in Tulsa’s opening-night win, and Copen delivered a similar performance on Saturday. Copen allowed just two hits in five scoreless frames. The right-hander walked three batters and struck out eight.
Nevin staked Copen to an early lead with a two-out, solo home run in the bottom of the first inning. It was the second homer of the season for Nevin.
The lead swelled to 4-0 in the fourth. Nevin led off the inning and reached safely on an error. Zyhir Hope just missed his first home run of the season when his opposite-field drive struck the top of the fence in deep, left-center field. The double put runners at second and third for Hainline, and the Oregon State product plated them with a three-run homer just inside the left field foul pole that easily cleared the Country Financial Terrace.
Once Copen departed, the bullpen continued the strong pitching. Lucas Wepf struck out the side in a scoreless sixth inning.
Wyatt Crowell took it from there. The lefthander allowed just two hits while striking three in his three shutout frames that closed out the victory.
It is the first time since 2023 that the Drillers have won their initial home series of the season.
GAME NOTES
*Saturday’s finale featured just nine total hits, with four coming from the Drillers. Tulsa’s final hit of the night was Hainline’s homer in the fourth inning. San Antonio pitchers set down 15 of the final 17 Tulsa batters, putting only two runners on base via walks.
*The eight strikeouts for Copen were just one shy of his season high from last year.
*It was just the eighth relief appearance in Crowell’s professional career and his second save. He has previously started in 35 of his 43 outings.
*One night after issuing 15 walks in Friday’s 11-9 loss, the three Tulsa pitchers allowed just 4 walks.
*A large paid crowd of 7,183 attended the game, marking the second time in three-games that attendance at ONEOK Field topped 7,000. The three-game, season-opening series drew an attendance total of 18,478.
UP NEXT
The Drillers will now have two off days before playing their first road series of the season. They will begin a six-game series in Springfield on Tuesday against the Cardinals. Tuesday’s series opener will begin 6:35 p.m. and the starting pitchers are expected to be:
TUL – RHP Payton Martin (6-4, 5.08 ERA in 2025 at Great Lakes)
SPR – RHP Brandt Thompson (3-7, 3.65 in 2025 at A, A+ & AA)