Soddies Late-Game Rally Comes Up Short, Fall 12-6

Amarillo, Texas (April 28, 2023) – The Amarillo Sod Poodles dropped their Friday night contest, 12-6, due to an early 10 runs tacked on by Frisco and a late game rally coming up short.

The Riders' bats powered through the first inning, plugging six runs before Amarillo could register an out and finishing the inning with an eight-run jump over Amarillo. They were able to secure the lead via six hits which encompassed a three-run homer off of Sod Poodles starting pitcher Chad Patrick.

Another home run came in the RoughRiders' next opportunity at-bat, a two-run shot to extend their lead to 10 runs.

Deyvison De Los Santos earned the Soddies' first knock of the night in the home frame of the second but was left stranded. The 19-year-old has now hit in four of his last five contests dating back to game six in Springdale (4/23) which was the tail end of three consecutive multi-hit games.

Following a two-way scoreless third, two more Riders crossed the dish in the top of the fourth in the form of an RBI groundout and a wild pitch.

Amarillo mustered their first two scores of the contest in the next frame. A Juan Centeno lead-off walk and a two-bagger from Roby Enriquez set the stage with the club's first two ducks on the pond. Tim Tawa brought them home with a ball that left the infield in a hurry, shortening Frisco's lead to 12-2.

The Soddies came ready to knock in the bottom of the fifth after holding a Frisco scoring threat on second in the away frame. A one-out base hit by Jonathan Guzman and a passed ball brought Amarillo's third base runner of the game to second, good for Guzman's first career hit at HODGETOWN. Ryan Bliss trailed and plastered a ball on the screws to drive in Guzman and extend his RBI streak to four-straight.

The Riders managed to get a runner into scoring position in the top of the sixth with no men out. However, LHP Dillon Larsen posted three straight outs for his final act, ending his appearance tossing 2.1 innings of relief and allowing just one hit and two walks, fanning two in the process.

Jackson Goddard was the next arm to come out of the Amarillo 'pen. The right-hander struck out the side in order following a scoreless Soddies offensive opportunity.

The Amarillo bats put together a three-run inning in the bottom of the seventh. A pair of back-to-back knocks from Guzman and Bliss followed by an RBI double off the bat of Tristin English secured Guzman's return home. The Soddies tacked on another in the form of an RBI-groundout and a dropped-third strike to plate Bliss and English and make it a six-run game.

Goddard held the Riders hitless for a second-straight inning of relief through the eighth. The right-hander pitched 2.0 innings while punching out three, good for his longest outing since 8/5/2022 with Hillsboro where he also went 2.0 innings and allowed one unearned run on one walk with two strikeouts.

RHP Austin Pope came out in the top of the ninth, allowing a one-out triple but holding tough and striking out the final two batters of the inning.

The Soddies were unable to respond in time to the six-run deficit, falling to the RoughRiders 12-6 and evening the series at two apiece.

The Sod Poodles return to HODGETOWN for a Saturday night rubber match as they look to retake control of the split series. First pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m.

NOTES:

HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO: LHP Dillon Larsen relieved 2.1 scoreless innings while conceding one hit and two walks while striking out two. The southpaws' 2.1 innings are his most in a contest since he logged 2.2 IP on 9/3/2022 with Hillsboro. Dating back to 7/12/2022 (HIL), the Central Washington alum has held his opponent scoreless in 15 out of 20 straight outings, logging a 3.19 ERA (10 ER, 28.2 IP) across the stretch.

BLISS ME, BLISS ME: 2B Ryan Bliss went 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored, logging his 12th multi-knock night in 17 games this season, setting the pace for the club in multi-hit performances while also leading the charge in AVG (.405, 32-for-79), hits, total bags (48) and doubles (6) while striking out the least among Soddies with at least 15 games played. Across qualified players in the Diamondbacks organization, the former Auburn Tiger is ranking second for AVG and hits, third for SLG (.608), OPS (1.021), and total bases (48) while tying third for XBH (10).

GUSHING FOR GUZMAN: LF Jonathan Guzman went 3-for-4 with two runs scored in his HODGETOWN debut. The D.R.-native's multi-hit performance has pushed his average to a whopping .364 (4-for-11) in Amarillo threads since joining the club on 4/21/23. Across the last five games, his average is good for the fifth highest while his three strikeouts are the second-fewest.

A TAWA PLAY: 2B Tim Tawa went 2-for-4 with two RBI, good for his first multi-hit night in 10 games dating back to 4/14/23 while only logging two total hits in between the two outings in question. Prior to the slump, Tawa was notching a .306 average (7-for-23) across his first six games (4/6-4/14/23) on the campaign while striking out just five times in 26 plate appearances. While on High-A Hillsboro in 2022, Tawa slashed .282/.377/.441 with eight doubles, a triple, and eight home runs in 58 games before being promoted to Double-A Amarillo on 6/23/2022.

OH MY GODDARD: RHP Jackson Goddard relieved 2.0 hitless innings while dealing three punchies, good for his season-high IP and strikeouts. This was the right-hander's longest appearance since he went an identical 2.0 innings with three K's on 8/5/2022 with Hillsboro, holding his opponent to a goose egg in the earned run category seven times across 14 relief appearances while fanning 17 since then.