OKC Opens Series with 5-3 Win Against Express

Oklahoma City Baseball Club — 5

Round Rock Express — 3

Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024 – Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark – Oklahoma City, Okla.

Game Summary: The Oklahoma City Baseball Club scored four runs over the first three innings Tuesday night and went on to a 5-3 win against the Round Rock Express in the series opener between the teams at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Oklahoma City (14-20/54-55) brought in the first run of the night when Drew Avans scored from third base as Andre Lipcius grounded into a double play in the first inning. OKC added two runs in the second inning, scoring a run on a passed ball and adding another on a RBI single by Avans for a 3-0 lead. Dustin Harris hit a two-run homer in the third inning for Round Rock (15-18/52-55) to trim the lead to one before OKC answered with a RBI single by Feduccia in the bottom of the inning. Both teams exchanged runs in the fifth inning with Harris connecting on his second homer of the game for the Express and Kody Hoese responding with a RBI single in OKC’s next at-bat for a 5-3 OKC advantage.

Of Note:

-Oklahoma City has now won back-to-back games as well as three straight home games at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. OKC also improved to 5-4 over the last nine games overall.

-Drew Avans reached base four times with two singles and two walks, scored a run and collected a RBI as he extended his on-base streak to 24 games — the longest active on-base streak by an OKC player and his second on-base streak of the season of at least 24 games. During the streak that started July 4, Avans has 19 hits and 23 walks.

-Kody Hoese went 2-for-3 with a triple, walk, RBI and scored a run. He has now hit safely in eight of his last nine games, going 12-for-32 (.375) with six extra-base hits and has also reached base safely in 14 straight games.

-Pitcher Landon Knack (4-3) started and recorded the win for OKC, allowing three runs (one earned) and six hits, including two home runs, over 5.2 innings with three walks and eight strikeouts. He threw a career-high 103 pitches (63 strikes), surpassing his previous career-high mark of 101 pitches set last season with Double-A Tulsa June 10, 2023 against Arkansas. His eight strikeouts tied his season-high mark from May 5 against Salt Lake in OKC. He also became just the fourth starting pitcher in 54 games for OKC to earn a win.

-The three runs allowed by OKC were the fewest runs allowed by the team since a 10-1 win against Tacoma July 24 in OKC and Round Rock was held scoreless over the game’s final four innings Tuesday…OKC Relievers Jose Hernandez and Jesse Hahn recorded holds for OKC and Jack Dreyer tallied his first career save, retiring all three batters he faced in the ninth inning with one strikeout.

-Dalton Rushing and Alex Freeland made their Triple-A debuts with OKC. Rushing, the top-rated prospect for the Los Angeles Dodgers, lined a single into left field during his first at-bat and finished the night 1-for-5. Rushing started in left field and is rated as the No. 1 in the Dodgers’ farm system by Baseball America and MLB Pipeline…Freeland started at shortstop, drew a walk and scored a run, going 0-for-3. He is currently rated as the No. 3 Dodgers prospect by Baseball America and No. 11 by MLB Pipeline.

Next Up: Oklahoma City and Round Rock continue their series at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Tickets for all remaining 2024 OKC Baseball Club home games are available at okcbaseball.com/tickets. Live radio coverage of each OKC Baseball Club game begins 15 minutes before first pitch on AM 1340 "The Game," 1340thegame.com and through the free iHeartRadio or MiLB First Pitch apps.