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Space Cowboys Cap Off Doubleheader In Walk-Off Fashion

David Hensley’s Three-Run Bomb Ends the Night With a Win
July 14, 2024

After a tough 10-4 loss in game one to the Las Vegas Aviators (45-46, 8-8), the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (58-33, 9-7) secured the doubleheader split on the last at-bat of game two on Saturday night at Constellation Field, taking it 5-2. In game one, RHP Conner Greene (L, 6-3)

After a tough 10-4 loss in game one to the Las Vegas Aviators (45-46, 8-8), the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (58-33, 9-7) secured the doubleheader split on the last at-bat of game two on Saturday night at Constellation Field, taking it 5-2.

In game one, RHP Conner Greene (L, 6-3) started for the Space Cowboys and gave up a two-run home run to Jordan Diaz in the first. The Space Cowboys cut the lead in half in the bottom of the second after Luke Berryhill drove Quincy Hamilton in on a single to left field.

Greene recovered after the first to throw a clean second inning but found trouble in the third when he loaded up the bases on a couple of singles and a walk with no outs with a light rain falling. After hitting Diaz with a pitch to add another run for the Aviators, Greene’s day ended after 2.1 innings pitched, and RHP Logan VanWey came in relief to escape the jam. On the first pitch VanWey threw, Logan Davidson hit it just out of the range of a diving Quincy Hamilton in right, tacking on one for the Aviators. VanWey ended the frame with tstrikeouts of Carlos Pérez and Drew Lugbauer.

The Space Cowboys countered back with tworuns in the fourth on a no-out, bases-loaded walk from Berryhill, and a double play to make it 4-3. However, the Aviators got one back on an RBI single from Colby Thomas in the fifth. Las Vegas exploded for five runs in the sixth off RHP Dylan Coleman on two RBI singles from Nick Allen and Diaz, and a three-run homer from Thomas made it a 10-3 game. Sugar Land was unable to get anything else off RHP J.T. Ginn (W, 2-3), while LHP Jack O’Laughlin pitched a scoreless sixth. Pedro León tagged LHP Austin Briggs in the seventh for his fourth longball in his last six games, but the Space Cowboys fell to the Aviators 10-4 after game one.

In game two, Las Vegas struck first in the top of the second off LHP Eric Lauer when Diaz led off the frame with a double. A single from Yohel Pozo moved Diaz to third, and with two outs, Lauer attempted to throw out Pozo at first but the ball skipped into foul territory, allowing Diaz to run home for the lead.

In the fourth, Jesús Bastidas mashed a solo home run to knot the game up at one against RHP Robert Dugger. The next frame, Lauer loaded the bases up with one out, and LHP Parker Mushinski came in to right the ship. Mushinski gave up a blooper to Thomas, moving everyone up one and scoring Quincy Nieporte from third. The Space Cowboys escaped the top of the fifth on a 5-4 double play, leaving the frame down 2-1 to the Aviators.

Mushinski returned for the top of the sixth and retired Lugbauer swinging, but left with two runners on base. RHP Wander Suero (W, 5-1) came in and got a pop out and a strike out to strand both runners and keep Sugar Land down by just a run.

Bastidas made the game even at two with his second home run of the game, his 20th of the season, vaulting him to a second-place tie for the Pacific Coast League lead. RHP Pedro Santos (L, 0-2) came in for the Aviators in the bottom of the seventh to try and send game two into extras. Santos issued walks to Omar Narváez and Hamilton with one out to bring David Hensley to the plate. On the sixth pitch of the at bat, Hensley smashed a three-run bomb to send the Space Cowboys to a victory and cap off the doubleheader on a good note, taking game two 5-2.

The Space Cowboys will play the series finale against the Las Vegas Aviators Sunday night. Both starters are TBA for a 6:35 pm CT first pitch. The game can be heard on ESPN 92.5 FM or online here and seen on MiLB.TV, MLB.TV or Bally Live.

ABOUT THE SUGAR LAND SPACE COWBOYS:

The Sugar Land Space Cowboys are the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros and compete in the Pacific Coast League. They began play as the Astros Triple-A affiliate in 2021 and began playing under the Space Cowboys brand in 2022. The Space Cowboys play at Constellation Field, located at the corner of Hwy-6 and US-90 Alternate in Sugar Land, Texas. Follow the team on Twitter (@SLSpaceCowboys), Instagram (@slspacecowboys), Facebook (SLSpaceCowboys) and their official website (slspacecowboys.com). Fans can purchase full-season and partial-season plans, as well as single-game tickets, by visiting slspacecowboys.com/tickets.