Bees Walk-Off Space Cowboys

In a contest that had four ties and five lead changes, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (32-40) were walked off 10-9 by the Salt Lake Bees (35-36) on Thursday night at Smith’s Ballpark.

Sugar Land got a quick jump on RHP Chase Silseth as David Hensley doubled to begin the first and moved to third on a single by Quincy Hamilton. Justin Dirden then doubled to bring in a run and a wild pitch from Silseth scored Hamilton to make it 2-0 Space Cowboys. A double play would plate another run, putting the Space Cowboys up 3-0 before the Bees came to hit.

Salt Lake would score two in the bottom of the first and took the lead in the bottom of the second with two more runs. The Space Cowboys snatched the lead back in the top of the third thanks to a lead-off single from Henlsey, a walk to Hamilton and a single to left by Dirden. Two batters later, Lee singled and JJ Matijevic drove in the go-ahead run, giving Sugar Land a 5-4 lead.

The Bees replied with three runs in the bottom of the third on a walk, a triple, a wild pitch and an inside-the-park home run, moving in front 7-5. A solo home run from Trey Cabbage in the fourth added to the Salt Lake lead, making it 8-5 Bees.

In the top of the sixth, Lee doubled to the right-field gap, his second hit of the night, and Matijevic sent him home with a single up the middle. With two outs in the frame, Marty Costes singled to right, scoring Matijevic to pull the Space Cowboys back within a run at 8-7. A solo home run from Jo Adell in the bottom of the frame widened the Bees’ advantage to two runs heading to the seventh.

Facing RHP Mason Erla (H,1) in the top of the seventh, Dirden singled with one-out but left the ball game after he got to first and was replaced by Luke Berryhill as a pinch runner. Berryhill advanced into scoring position on a ground out and raced in to score on a single by Lee, yet again cutting the Bees lead to just one run.

Sugar Land would finally tie the game in the top of the eighth inning when Pedro León connected for a solo home run off RHP Andrew Wantz (BS,1). The Space Cowboys put the winning run on base in the top of the ninth with a one-out walk to Rylan Bannon from RHP Gerardo Reyes (W, 3-2) but a third double play on the night for Sugar Land ended their rally.

RHP Matt Ruppenthal (L, 4-1) was called upon for the ninth inning and surrendered a lead-off walk to Adell. The Space Cowboys’ righty responded by getting a flyout from Cabbage, but a walk, a hit batter and a fielder’s choice led to the walk-off victory for the Bees.

Trailing 2-1 in the series, the Space Cowboys continue their six-game tilt with the Bees on Friday night. LHP Nick Allgeyer (3-1, 5.08) is scheduled to toe the slab for Sugar Land while Salt Lake is set to throw RHP Cesar Valdez (4-1, 6.35) for a 7:35 pm CT first pitch. The game can be heard on ESPN 92.5 FM or online here and seen on MiLB.TV.

*ABOUT THE SUGAR LAND SPACE COWBOYS: *

The Sugar Land Space Cowboys are the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros and compete in the Pacific Coast League. They began play as the Astros Triple-A affiliate in 2021 and began playing under the Space Cowboys brand in 2022. The Space Cowboys play at Constellation Field, located at the corner of Hwy-6 and US-90 Alternate in Sugar Land, Texas. Follow the team on Twitter (@SLSpaceCowboys), Instagram (@slspacecowboys), Facebook (SLSpaceCowboys) and their official website (slspacecowboys.com). Fans can purchase full-season and partial-season plans, as well as single-game tickets, by visiting slspacecowboys.com/tickets.