Round Rock Races Past Sugar Land 5-1 in Series Opener

SUGAR LAND, Texas – The Round Rock Express (65-60) held the Sugar Land Skeeters (73-53) to just three base hits en route to a 5-1 victory in Wednesday night’s series opener at Constellation Field. The win marked Round Rock’s 65th of the year, guaranteeing the Express back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since the 2005-2006 campaigns.

Round Rock RHP Cole Winn (1-0, 3.38) dominated in his second career Triple-A start. The 21-year-old earned the win after holding Sugar Land to just one base hit while walking four and striking out six in 5.0 shutout innings of work. On the losing side, Skeeters RHP Chad Donato (2-4, 5.00) permitted two runs on four hits while striking out three in 6.0 frames.

E-Train 3B Josh Jung set the tone for the evening with a booming solo home run in the second at-bat of the contest, giving Round Rock an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. After four scoreless frames, Round Rock doubled its lead to 2-0 in the sixth as Jung walked prior to a Domingo Leyba double. An ensuing Sam Huff sacrifice fly scored Jung for the second run of the ballgame.

An inning later, Express SS Ryan Dorow collected a two-out single, then LF Charles Leblanc followed with an RBI triple that stretched the gap to 3-0. Round Rock C Yohel Pozo put the game away for good in the eighth, launching a two-run homer to deep left field, scoring Huff, who had previously worked a two-out walk to keep the inning alive.

Sugar Land’s only run of the evening came in the bottom of the ninth inning as 1B Taylor Jones worked a leadoff double off Round Rock RHP Buck Farmer before moving to third on a balk and scoring as DH Korey Lee sent a sacrifice fly to deep right field. Lee accounted for two of Sugar Land’s three hits in the game, collecting a two-out single in the second and a leadoff double in the seventh.

Round Rock’s bullpen trio of RHP Ryder Ryan, RHP Luis Ortiz and RHP Demarcus Evans combined to allow just one hit while striking out four in 3.0 shutout innings of relief.

The Express go for a season-series victory over their new in-state foes in game two on Thursday night. Skeeters LHP Jonathan Bermudez (2-1, 3.62) is scheduled to start opposite an E-Train hurler to be announced. First pitch at Constellation Field in Sugar Land is set for 7:05 p.m.

For more information about the Express, visit RRExpress.com or call (512) 255-2255. Subscribe to the E-Train email newsletter and keep up with the Express on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!