Near Perfection for Pepiot in 3-0 Drillers Win

TULSA – ONEOK Field is currently hosting its 11th season of Double-A Tulsa Drillers baseball, but Sunday night the stadium arguably hosted its most dominant pitching performance. Tulsa’s Ryan Pepiot was unhittable and all but perfect. The right-hander retired the first 21 Arkansas batters he faced before issuing a full-count walk to the leadoff hitter in the eighth inning. With his pitch limit reached, his night ended with the walk.

The Drillers lost the no-hit bid one batter after his departure, but held on for a 3-0 victory over the Travelers that was only the second-biggest story of the evening.

BOXSCORE

Pepiot came up just short in his bid for a nine-inning perfect game, but his final pitching line was still impressive. It read, 7.0+ innings pitched, 0 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk and 11 strikeouts.

The #7 ranked prospect in the Los Angeles Dodgers system was in command from the start of the game, needing just seven pitches to work a 1-2-3 first inning.

The Butler University product only got better from there, striking out two batters in each of the next four innings. He only got one strikeout in the sixth, and one more in the seventh as he used just 69 pitches to retire the first 21 Travs hitters and complete 7 perfect innings.

Pepiot came back out for the top of the eighth, but he lost his perfect night when he just missed with a 3-2 pitch, walking Brian O’Keefe leading off the inning.

The ball four was his 77th and final pitch of the night, as Tulsa manager Scott Hennessey summoned Justin Hagenman from the bullpen.

A frustrated Pepiot departed the mound amid a standing ovation from the large and appreciative crowd.

The Drillers had taken a first-inning lead in the game when Donovan Casey led off with a base hit and eventually scored from second on Carlos Rincon’s two-out single, just beating a strong throw to the plate by right fielder Julio Rodriguez.

Pepiot’s catcher, Hunter Feduccia, provided the rest of the game’s offense, belting an opposite-field, two-run homer in the fifth inning that gave Tulsa a three-run lead.

The Travelers only scoring chance came in that eighth inning. Following O’Keefe’s walk, Hagenman came in and retired the first batter he faced before Jordan Cowan ended the no-hitter with a clean single to right field. Another walk loaded the bases with just one out, but Hagenman got back-to-back strikeouts to escape the trouble.

In the ninth, Aaron Ochsenbein took over for Hagenman and retired the first batter before Rodriguez reached on a one-out, infield single. Ochsenbein got Josh Morgan on a fly out and O’Keefe on a ground out to end the game and preserve the shutout win.

Of Pepiot’s 77 pitches, 56 were strikes.

“It was mostly fastballs and change ups tonight with a few sliders,” said Pepiot.

That fastball touched 97-98 m.p.h. while his changeup provided a strong complement, at 88-90 m.p.h.

The victory improved his season record to 3-2, while his ERA lowered to 1.73. He is now 3-0 in six games at ONEOK Field with a 1.20 ERA.

“I like pitching here,” said Pepiot. “It is a great atmosphere with great fans.”

THE HIGHLIGHTS

*A near sellout crowd of 7,571 was in attendance for the victory. The Drillers drew a total of 23,361 fans for the three weekend games with the Travelers, including two sellouts. The Drillers are currently 6th among all 120 minor league teams with an average attendance of 5,367.

*It was the second time in three weeks that a Tulsa and Arkansas game nearly had a no-hitter. On June 20, the Travs were within one out of a no-hitter when Tulsa’s Miguel Vargas ended the effort with a two-out home run in the ninth inning.

*The 7 innings and 77 total pitches for Pepiot were both career highs. His 11 strikeouts were just 3 short of the ONEOK Field record set by Dustin May in the 2019 season.

*It was the second closest a Drillers pitcher has come to throwing a nine-inning no-hitter at ONEOK Field. Edwar Cabrera tossed a no-hitter through eight innings against Corpus Christi on April 17, 2012 before losing his bid on an infield single by the leadoff hitter in the ninth inning.

*The Drillers concluded their 12-game homestand with an 8-4 record.

*The game was the final meeting of the regular season between Tulsa and Arkansas. The two teams split their 18 games with each side winning 9 times.

UP NEXT

The Drillers will enjoy a day off on Monday before opening a 12-game road trip that will include a series in Springfield and one in Wichita.

Tulsa at Springfield on Tuesday, July 6 at 6:35 PM at Hammons Field. The pitching matchup will be Tulsa RHP Bryan Brickhouse (1-2, 3.86 ERA) vs. Springfield RHP Andre Pallante (2-3, 2.72 ERA).