Riders offense stays hot, down Sod Poodles 18-1

AMARILLO, Texas (September 14, 2024) – The Frisco RoughRiders defeated the Amarillo Sod Poodles 18-1 on Saturday evening from HODGETOWN.

Box Score

Frisco (39-29, 83-54) jumped ahead in the top of the first inning against Amarillo (28-39, 58-78) starter Dylan Ray (2-5) when Cody Freeman drove in Alejandro Osuna with a single to center. Abimelec Ortiz belted a three-run homer to left to give the Riders a 4-0 lead.

In the top of the second inning, Osuna and Josh Hatcher launched back-to-back solo home runs to push the RoughRiders lead to 6-0.

Amarillo found the run column with a solo homer in the bottom of the fourth with a solo homer by Gavin Conticello against Bryan Chi. Chi exited after 3.0 innings, allowing one run on a pair of hits and a walk while fanning three.

Ryan Lobus worked a pair of scoreless relief innings before handing the ball to Bryan Magdaleno.

The RoughRiders erupted for five more runs in the top of the fifth inning as the first four batters reached. Sebastian Walcott delivered the first run with a single before Keyber Rodriguez added on with an RBI single. Aaron Zavala mashed his fifth homer of the season, a three-run shot to left that extended the lead to 11-1.

In the top of the seventh inning, Daniel Mateo delivered his fifth homer of the season to pad the lead at 12-1.

Walcott, the youngest player in franchise history, unleashed on his first career Double-A homer in the top of the eighth inning. The three-run shot gave the RoughRiders a 15-1 lead.

In the visiting portion of the ninth inning, Hatcher doubled in Osuna before an Ortiz two-run shot brought the score to its final resting place, 18-1. Over his last two games, Ortiz is now 7-for-10 with four homers.

Offensively, the Riders set season highs with 18 runs, 21 hits and seven homers. Ortiz paced the offense with five hits as each of the nine starters collected a hit for the second straight night. Six different players recorded multi-hit nights in the win.

The RoughRiders continue a six-game road series against the Amarillo Sod Poodles (Arizona Diamondbacks affiliate) at 1:05 p.m. on Sunday, September 15th. The Riders and Sod Poodles have not named starters for the regular season finale.

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 210 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].