Frisco comes back, falls late against Tulsa

FRISCO, Texas (September 10, 2022) – In front of a season-high 9,515 fans at Riders Field, the Frisco RoughRiders were downed by the Tulsa Drillers on Saturday night 10-7. Trailing 7-2, Frisco returned to tie the game at 7-7 in the seventh before eventually falling.

Box score

The RoughRiders (34-26, 70-59) jumped on the scoreboard first in the first inning when Aaron Zavala ripped a solo home run on the first pitch he saw to make it 1-0. It was Zavala's fifth home run of the season with the Riders and his 16th overall this year.

Tulsa (26-35, 66-62) then countered by scoring in three-consecutive innings. Andy Pages ripped a solo home run in the second to tie the game before the Drillers took the lead with a Ryan Ward RBI single in the third and added on when Pages lifted a sacrifice fly in the same frame.

Leading 3-1, Leonel Varlera plated another run for Tulsa on an RBI single in the fourth inning, scoring Abiatal Avelino.

Frisco brought themselves back within two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning when Trevor Hauver scored on a wild pitch, but a three-run home run from Valera extended the Tulsa lead in the sixth to 7-2.

That lead held into the bottom of the seventh inning when Justin Foscue rammed a single to center, plating two runs to cut the deficit to 7-4. Blaine Crim then hammered his 23rd home run of the season, a three-run blast, to tie the game at 7-7. Over the last two weeks, it was Crim's seventh hit that drove in the game's tying run or go-ahead run in a game.

The tie did not last long though as Pages blooped a two-run double into shallow center to give the Drillers the lead in the eighth against Triston Polley (5-2) and Justin Yurchak added an RBI single in the ninth to push the lead to 10-7.

Tanner Dodson (4-0) earned the win for the Drillers in relief and Aaron Leasure picked up his fourth save of the year by finishing off the game.

The RoughRiders conclude their final home stand of the regular season with game six against the Drillers on Sunday afternoon at 4:05 p.m. LHP Avery Weems (2-6, 5.22) starts for the RoughRiders against RHP Nick Nastrini (1-1, 3.48) for Tulsa.

Sunday is Patriot Day as well as Kids Sunday Funday with kids run the bases postgame presented by Raising Cane's.

For tickets and more information about the Frisco RoughRiders, visit RidersBaseball.com or call 972.731.9200.

About the RoughRiders

The Frisco RoughRiders are the Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. The team was founded in 2003 and has finished first among all Double-A franchises in attendance for 15 consecutive seasons (2005-2019). In August 2014, the RoughRiders were purchased by an ownership group led by Chuck Greenberg. Since then, the new ownership group, together with the City of Frisco, has spearheaded numerous major franchise enhancements, investing over $8 million in a wide array of facility upgrades and improvements, including a state-of-the-art HD video board, sound system, Bull Moose Saloon, InTouch Grille, Riders Outpost Team Store and the world's largest water feature in a sports facility, the massive Lazy River. These enhancements earned the Riders and the City of Frisco Ballpark Digest's prestigious "Best Ballpark Renovation" award for two consecutive years (2015 and 2016). More than 170 former RoughRiders players have gone on to play Major League Baseball. For more information on the Frisco RoughRiders, please visit RidersBaseball.com or contact [email protected].