Wind Surge Have Bright Flashes, Fall Short on Opening Night

Wind Surge Have Bright Flashes, Fall Short on Opening Night

While the pitching had the strikeouts and the fielding highs, Wichita drops the season opener

The Wichita Wind Surge lost 6-4 on Opening Night from Riverfront Stadium against the Frisco RoughRiders on Friday, April 5. Following the loss, Wichita is 0-1 for the 2024 Season and will need to wait for the next chance at winning on Opening Night in front of their home fans.

Marco Raya brought his stuff to the mound in his first start of 2024, striking out four RoughRiders hitters across three innings of work.

Frisco struck for the first run of the night on an RBI double to center field from Liam Hicks, bringing home the Rangers #21 prospect Aaron Zavala.

Wichita didn’t wait long to respond as the Twins #27 prospect and starting catcher Noah Cardenas dribbled a groundball up the middle to score the Twins #28 prospect Ben Ross.

The visiting RoughRiders later worked three walks in the top of the sixth against Wind Surge reliever A.J. Alexy before Josh Hatcher broke through with a two-run single to the Twins #3 and #42 MLB prospect Emmanuel Rodriguez in center. They added a trio of insurance runs an inning later in the seventh on a Kellen Strahm two-RBI looping single and a Max Acosta RBI single, both hit toward right fielder Kala’i Rosario.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, things got interesting after back-to-back singles from Cardenas and Jake Rucker, who later advanced to third and second, respectively, on a Frisco infield error. Emmanuel Rodriguez sent both runners home from scoring position on a double off the left-centerfield wall. Tanner Schobel followed with a walk, but the two Wind Surge hitters that followed the returning infielder recorded outs to end the game.

Across the game, Wind Surge pitchers combined for 10 strikeouts while Carson McCusker threw out a Frisco’s Zavala at second base to finish the top of the eighth. Ross also worked a fielder’s choice to third base in the third to eliminate a Frisco runner in scoring position.

The Wind Surge play host to Frisco for the second game of the three-game Opening Weekend Series tomorrow on Saturday, April 6, at Riverfront Stadium with the first pitch time set for 6:05 PM. You can listen to Wind Surge games on ESPN Wichita 92.3 and windsurge.com or watch online at MiLB.TV and Bally Live. For ticket information, please visit windsurge.com/tickets to view the upcoming 2024 MiLB schedule.