Hooks Battle Back for Walk-Off Win

Box Score

CORPUS CHRISTI – Grae Kessinger lined a sac fly to center field, scoring Alex McKenna from third base in 10th inning Thursday night as the Hooks dispatched Amarillo, 5-4, at Whataburger Field.

Corpus Christi has won six of its last seven games.

Behind starts by Jose Bravo and Brandon Pfaadt, the Hooks and Sod Poodles traded no-hit innings over the first six.

Pfaadt retired the first 19 he faced before Luke Berryhill swatted a home run to right field in the seventh, his ninth long ball of the year.

Amarillo managed to even the score at 1 in the eighth on consecutive two-out singles and a Cody Deason balk.

Pfaadt, who matched his career-high with 12 strikeouts, was forced from the contest with two outs in the eighth thanks to singles by McKenna and Bryan Arias. Wilyer Abreu then greeted lefty Mack Lemieux with a towering 385-foot home run to right for a 4-1 Hooks lead.

The Sod Poodles produced three straight hits against Deason to start the ninth. Eduardo Diaz’s two-run dinger to left tied the game.

Devin Conn, who recorded the save on Wednesday, finished the ninth without further damage and then turned in a 1-2-3 10th to strand the automatic runner.

Conn has not allowed a run in his last seven games, spanning 10 2/3 innings.

Bravo retired 15 of the 16 batters he faced, striking out four. The lone man to reach against the right-handed CC starter did so via a two-out walk in the fifth.

Cesar Salazar’s lead-off single in the home 10th against Amarillo closer Blake Rogers set the stage for Kessinger’s sac fly, rendering Corpus Christi’s fourth last at-bat win of the year.

The Hooks, up 2-1 in the series, send Jimmy Endersby to the hill Friday night. First pitch 7:05.