Sod Poodles Fall 11-4 on Sunday

Amarillo, Texas (June 18, 2023) – The Amarillo Sod Poodles lost to the San Antonio Missions 11-4 on Sunday night to close out the six-game series from HODGETOWN. Camden Duzenack and A.J Vukovich each homered for the Sod Poodles.

A two-run home run came after a leadoff walk in the top of the first inning off Sod Poodles starter Jamison Hill. The right-hander then proceeded to retire three of the next four batters to keep it at a two-run game. Amarillo then loaded the bases with just one out in the bottom of the first inning on an error, walk, and single. Tim Tawa hustled down the first base line to beat out what would have been an inning-ending double play to score Ryan Bliss from third and make it a one-run lead.

A Mission's solo shot in the top of the second pushed their lead back to two runs before Duzenack hit his second home run of the season to once again make it a run game in the bottom of the third.

Hill kept a one-out triple in the fourth inning stranded.He picked off a runner at first after a walk and then Bliss made a charging bare-handed play for the second straight scoreless inning.

San Antonio got their fourth run of the game in the fifth inning. A pair of doubles pushed their lead back to two runs at 4-2. The Sod Poodles were able to tie the game in the home half of the inning. Duzenack doubled off the left field wall and then Vukovich hit his team-leading 12th home run of the year to knot things up.

Jackson Goddard came into the game in the sixth in relief of Hill. A pair of singles and a walk loaded the bases and had the Missions threatening with just one out. A two-RBI single broke the tie and brought an end to Goddard's day. Left-hander Jake Rice was brought in and a single re-loaded the bases with San Antonio's third run of the inning coming across after a walk. A two-out, two-RBI single gave the Missions a five-run lead at 9-4.

The Sod Pooles were retired in order in the bottom of the sixth and sent Conor Grammes to the mound. The righty struck out the first man he faced and then induced a ground out and fly out to make quick work of the Missions in his first inning of work.

Bliss singled in the seventh but was left stranded on base as Amarillo was unable to chip away at the lead. San Antonio added a run in the eighth, using a pair of two-out hits to make it 10-4. Kyle Backhus was the fourth pitcher used by the Sod Poodles when he came on in the top of the ninth. A two-out solo homer put San Antonio ahead 11-4.

The Sod Poodles seven, eight, and nine-hole hitters were each retired in the bottom of the ninth.

Amarillo will close out the Texas League first half with a trip to South Texas to face the Corpus Christi Hooks (Double-A, Houston). First pitch on Tuesday at Whataburger Field is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.

NOTES:

HOW DO YOU DUZE: Camden Duzenack launched his second home run in his last five games. He hit a leadoff home run last Sunday in Midland for his first homer of the year. It was his fifth home run in 63 career Double-A games. He's also played really well on Sundays over his career in Double-A, hitting .323 (10-for-31) with four doubles, three homers, and seven RBI.

GOING X-GAMES MODE: A.J. Vukovich hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth inning, his second straight game with a homer after launching a solo shot in Saturday night's win. It is the third time this year that the Wisconsin native has hit a homer in consecutive games, the most by a Sod Poodle player in 2023. His 12 home runs are tied for the second-most in the Diamondbacks organization this season. He hit a career-high 17 home runs a season ago between High-A Hillsboro and Amarillo in 117 combined games.

BLISS YOU: Ryan Bliss extended his hit streak to nine games after going 1-for-4 with a run scored Sunday night. Since June 8, Bliss has 17 total hits during the streak, hitting .425. Along with his hit streak, he extended his on-base streak to 21 straight games, tied for the third-longest on-base streak in the league in 2023. His string of eight straight games with a RBI and seven straight with an XBH came to an end, but are each tied for the longest such streaks in the Texas League this year.

HOMER HAPPY: Amarillo and San Antonio combined to hit 25 home runs this week, the most in a series this season that Amarillo has played in so far this year. The previous high was the 19 hit from May 9-14 when Midland was in town. Amarillo hit 11 home runs this week, led by Ryan Bliss, Neyfy Castillo, Adrian Del Castillo, and A.J. Vukovich who each launched a pair of home runs this week. San Antonio's Tirso Ornelas hit four home runs in the series while Ray-Patrick Didder added three.