Springfield takes down Frisco in 10 inning thriller, 10-8

FRISCO, Texas (August 15, 2024) – The Frisco RoughRiders were defeated by the Springfield Cardinals 10-8 on Thursday evening from Riders Field.

Box Score

Frisco (23-19, 67-44) found the run column in the bottom of the first inning against Springfield (26-16, 63-48) starter Max Rajcic when Abimelec Ortiz singled to drive in Maximo Acosta. A single by Aaron Zavala with a throwing error attached allowed Ortiz to score, giving the Riders an early 2-0 lead.

Kumar Rocker, making his fourth start for Frisco, surrendered his first run after Nathan Church led off the fourth inning with a double and later scored on a groundout to cut the Riders advantage to 2-1.

Rocker, the Rangers No. 2 prospect, finished after 4.0 innings where he allowed just the one run on one hit and a walk with five punchouts.

The RoughRiders added a run in the home half of the fourth inning where Acosta doubled home Keyber Rodriguez to bring the game to a 3-1 score.

Springfield came back within a run in the top of the sixth inning against Damian Mendoza. Church belted his second double of the game and came around to score on an RBI single by R.J. Yeager.

In the visiting half of the seventh, Springfield erupted against Ricky DeVito as they manufactured five runs to take a 7-3 lead. Larson Kindreich inherited the bases loaded, allowing each to score.

Frisco responded with a dramatic four-run bottom of the seventh, Rodriguez drove in Ortiz with a single before a three-run homer from Daniel Mateo evened the game at 7-7.

Springfield took the lead in the top of the eighth inning, using a leadoff double by Rotondo and a sacrifice fly from Church to earn an 8-7 advantage.

Trailing by a run in the bottom of the ninth, Zavala launched a solo homer to right field to send the game to extras.

Florencio Serrano (0-3) sat down the first batter he faced in the 10th before allowing an RBI single to Bryan Torres. Torres later scored on an infield single from Jimmy Crooks to give Springfield a 10-8 lead. He finished after 2.0 innings where he surrendered two runs (one earned) on three hits while fanning two.

Needing two runs to push the game to the 11th frame, Jack Ralston (5-1) held the Riders scoreless in the tenth to earn the win.

Offensively, Frisco collected 14 hits with Acosta leading the way with three hits. Ortiz, Zavala, Rodriguez, Mateo and Luis Mieses each recorded two hits.

The RoughRiders continue a six-game set against the Springfield Cardinals (St. Louis Cardinals) at 7:05 p.m. on Friday, August 16th. The Riders will turn to RHP Mitch Bratt (1-1, 3.27) against RHP Max Rajcic (5-2, 5.79) for the Cardinals.

Head to Riders Field on Friday, August 16th as we kick off football season in North Texas! Enjoy football themes, games and more. Stick around after the game for postgame fireworks presented by Globe Life.

Greg Tepper and Erin Hartigan of Bally Sports Southwest will be on hand for a night of football themed fun!

For tickets and more information about the Frisco RoughRiders, visit RidersBaseball.com or call 972.731.9200.

About the RoughRiders

The Frisco RoughRiders are the Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers and the 2022 Texas League champions. In 2023, the team celebrated its 20th anniversary and has consistently finished in the top five among all Double-A franchises in attendance yearly. In August 2014, the RoughRiders were purchased by an ownership group led by Chuck Greenberg. Since then, the new ownership group, together with the City of Frisco, has spearheaded numerous major franchise enhancements, investing over $8 million in a wide array of facility upgrades and improvements, including a state-of-the-art HD video board, sound system, Bull Moose Saloon, Bullpen Bar, Riders Outpost Team Store and the world's largest water feature in a sports facility, the massive Lazy River. These enhancements earned the Riders and the City of Frisco Ballpark Digest's prestigious "Best Ballpark Renovation" award for two consecutive years (2015 and 2016). More than 200 former RoughRiders players have gone on to play Major League Baseball including current Rangers Josh Jung, Evan Carter and Leody Taveras. For more information on the Frisco RoughRiders, please visit RidersBaseball.com or contact [email protected].