Chupacabras Salty After 6-3 Loss to Margaritas 

ROUND ROCK, Texas – The Round Rock Chupacabras (16-9) got shaken up in a 6-3 loss to the El Paso Margaritas (11-13) on Thirsty Thursday at Dell Diamond. Both teams rebranded for the evening as part of Minor League Baseball’s Copa de la Diversión campaign, a nationwide initiative to celebrate the culture and values of Hispanic and Latino communities.

Chupacabras reliever RHP Luis Ortiz (1-1, 4.22) suffered the loss, allowing two runs on two hits in an inning. Margaritas RHP James Norwood (2-2, 4.63) earned the win with a hitless relief inning that saw one walk and two strikeouts. Round Rock High School alum RHP Mason Thompson showed his top shelf talent to earn the save for El Paso, striking out two after allowing a single in the ninth inning.

The teams went shot for shot in the second, with the Margaritas scoring first after C Luis Campusano doubled before racing home on a single from former Round Rock 3B Nick Tanielu. In the bottom of the frame, Chupacabras 1B Charles Leblanc didn’t take his birthday with a grain of salt as he shot a solo home run back to right field for a 1-1 tie.

Round Rock came back for another round in the fourth inning as CF Leody Taveras hit a double, moved to second on a Yohel Pozo groundout and took advantage of an Andy Ibáñez fielder’s choice to score. In the bottom of the fifth, LF Delino DeShields hit a sacrifice fly to send RF Carl Chester home.

A late inning spout proved to be the perfect concoction for El Paso as the Margaritas rallied to score five runs in the last three frames. Tanielu led off the second with a double and tallied a run for the Margaritas on a Chupacabras error later in the inning, putting Round Rock’s lead on the rocks.

El Paso continued their happy hour in the eighth and downed Round Rock with a two-run inning. The Margaritas took a 4-3 lead as former Chupacabras DH Patrick Kivlehan worked walk then found his way home on a double from Campusano, leveling the game. Tanielu toasted the Chupacabras with an RBI single that scored his catcher.

The Margaritas closed it down with two final runs in the ninth inning. C John Andreoli tripled to right field to score 1B Gosuke Katoh and SS Pedro Florimon.

Round Rock’s last call in the bottom of the ninth fell short as Thompson allowed a one-out single before leaving 2B Eli White and Leblanc frozen via a pair of strikeouts, serving up the 6-3 win for El Paso, leaving only the worm.

The two teams meet again on Friday night at Dell Diamond with a 7:05 p.m. first pitch. Round Rock LHP Brock Burke (0-2, 15.58) is scheduled to get the start up against El Paso RHP Jesse Scholtens (3-1, 3.32).

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