Barrosa Calls Game, Walks Off RoughRiders

Amarillo, TX – The Sod Poodles and RoughRiders played another back-and-forth game on Friday night in front of a sellout crowd in downtown Amarillo. The game saw 13 runs scored over the final four innings as the Sod Poodles walked off Frisco 11-10 to take a 3-1 series lead.

After taking a 2-1 series lead in a weather-shortened contest last night, the Sod Poodles sent right-hander Deyni Olivero to the mound to face the Texas Rangers Double-A affiliate for his eighth start with Amarillo.

The Sod Poodles provided the first bit of run support for Olivero in the bottom of the second inning. A Nick Dalesandro single and stolen base followed by an error to put runners on the corners. Catcher Lyle Lin grounded out to third base but it was hit soft enough to allow Dalesandro to scamper home for the first run of the game.

Frisco knotted things up in the top of the third with a solo home run off the bat of Jax Biggers. They distanced themselves in the fourth inning on a three-run home run from Trey Hair who has hit a home run in all four games of the series. Olivero's night came to an end after four innings of work that saw four runs across, all by homers, and struck out three. Olivero allowed just three hits in the game but two of them did damage.

Entering the bottom of the fifth, the Sod Poodles had only two hits, one from Dalesandro and one from Eduardo Diaz. Lin notched the third hit of the night for the Soddies, leading off the bottom of the 5th. A new pitcher and strikeout put the Soddies' backs against the wall trailing by three. After tallying three hits in last night's win, Jorge Barrosa drew an important two-out walk, keeping the inning alive.

An errant pickoff attempt behind Lin on second allowed both him and Barrosa to move into scoring position. Leandro Cedeño then doubled, scoring both and placing himself in scoring position. Ti'Quan Forbes nestled a ball into shallow left-center field to tie the ballgame at four a side.

The game remained tied into the seventh when the RoughRiders retook the lead with a solo home run to start the frame.

Things got strange after the seventh-inning stretch. The first two batters of the bottom reached without putting the ball in play. A fly-out and single loaded the bases. The second hit batter of the inning tied the game and kept the bases loaded. A wild pitch propelled the Soddies in front by a run before the lead grew with a two-RBI single delivered by Roby Enriquez.

With Amarillo up by three, the RoughRiders stormed back to tie the game in the top of the eighth, once again under unusual circumstances. A called balk scored the first run and put another runner on third base. A walk and hit batter loaded the bases for Frisco. A ground out to Cedeño scored one and cut the lead to a single run. A wild pitch, the second of the night, tied the game.

After Blake Rogers spun a scoreless ninth with a pair of strikeouts, the Soddies had a chance to end the game in regulation. Another hit by pitch started the inning. With two outs, Amarillo mounted a rally. A single and walk loaded the bases once again before a strikeout ended the inning and sent the game to extras.

Rogers went back out for the top of the 10th. Back-to-back walks loaded the bases and an RBI single scored one and kept the bases juiced. A sac fly scored another and made the deficit two runs and left the Soddies with some work to do after the top of the 10th.

A leadoff double from Drew Stankiewicz scored one and turned the Sod Poodles lineup over to the top. A groundout didn't allow Stankiewicz to advance but sent Barrosa to the plate. On a 2-2 pitch, Barrosa turned on a 91 MPH fastball and sent the crowd into a frenzy with a walk-off home run.

SAY IT WITH US…

HIP, HIP

JORRRGEEEEE!!!!!

WALK IT OFF pic.twitter.com/eZuUQAyQ0J

— Amarillo Sod Poodles (@sodpoodles) June 11, 2022

Guaranteeing at least a series split, the Sod Poodles will have their eyes set on winning the series tomorrow as RHP and D-backs' No. 9 rated prospect Brandon Pfaadt will get the ball for game five on Saturday night. Pfaadt has tossed three straight quality starts headed into Saturday's matchup with the RoughRiders and has allowed just four runs over his last 19.0 IP while leading the D-backs' minor leagues in strikeouts in 2022.

Notes:

Walk It Off: Jorge Barrosa who tallied three hits on Thursday night in the weather-shortened five-inning game, waited until the perfect time to pick up his lone hit on Friday. The switch hitter came into the game with a home run drought dating back to May 21 when he hit a two-run shot against Tulsa. It's just the second walk-off home run dating back to the 2021 season, with the only other one also coming against Frisco here to end the 2021 season as Stone Garrett walked off the RoughRiders to knock them out of the playoffs.

Captain Clutch: Barrosa's late-inning magic marked the first walk-offO home run of his career and was just the second home run of his career to come in the 9th inning or later. His only other home run in the ninth was a solo shot to cut the deficit to one run in a game the DSL D-backs lost 6-5 on July 19, 2018. Of his 17 career home runs, eight have come in the first three innings of games.

Better In Pairs: Ti'Quan Forbes and Nick Dalesandro were the only Sod Poodles to tally multi-hit games on Saturday. It was their 14th and 9th mulit-hit games of the year respectfully. In total there have been 150 multi-hit games from Sod Poodles this year. Along with Barrosa's two-run walk off, Leandro Cedeño, and Roby Enriquez pitched in with multi-RBI games, the 88th combined multi-RBI games for Amarillo in 2022.

*Needed A Boos-t: *Sod Poodles southpaw Cam Booser was the first man out of the Amarillo bullpen and fired two scoreless innings. For Booser, it was his third scoreless relief appearance of the season and first since May 27th when he spun two scoreless in Arkansas.

Deja Vu: The 11-10 win for Amarillo was the second straight 11-10 win over the RoughRiders but each came in vastly different scenarios. The Sod Poodles and RoughRiders racked up 21 runs in just over 5.0 IP on Thursday and did the same over 10 innings Friday night. In both games, Frisco had four errors, giving them eight in their last two games and at one point, eight in just over 11 innings of gameplay.