The Amarillo Sod Poodles (20-18) defeated the Corpus Christi Hooks (17-22), 5-3, on Sunday night at Whataburger Field. Having squandered some great scoring chances earlier in the game, the Soddies cashed in with their backs against the wall in the ninth for a come-from-behind victory.
The Soddies wasted no time going in front in the top of the first, using good two-strike hitting and a little bit of luck to do so. With two outs and two runners in scoring position, Ben McLaughlin grounded a 3-2 pitch off the first base bag that allowed a run to score.
Corpus Christi responded in the bottom of the second inning, as the next two Hooks batters after a leadoff double from Trevor Austin moved the runner over and in with a pair of productive outs to tie the game at one apiece.
One hit and one run were the only blemishes on Daniel Eagen’s line in an abbreviated start of just three innings pitched. Amarillo’s bullpen picked up where Arizona’s No. 7 prospect left off, as Logan Mercado and Antonio Menendez combined to blank the Hooks over the next four frames.
The Hooks broke through in the eighth with Casey Anderson on the mound when a walk drawn by Austin and wild pitch during Yamal Encarnacion’s at-bat moved him up to second base, which allowed him to score on a shallow fly ball that landed just inside fair territory down the right field line. Jake Meyers added an insurance run with a double of his own to put Corpus Christi ahead by a score of 3-1.
A walk to pinch-hitter Junior Franco started the inning for the Soddies, and two consecutive errors by the Hooks defense cut Amarillo’s deficit in half and put the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position.
Jansel Luis immediately knotted the game with a sacrifice fly to center field. That brought Manuel Pena to the plate, and with Corpus Christi’s infield drawn in, a chopper over the head of Encarnacion at second base resulted in a go-ahead RBI single.
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