Space Cowboys Fall Short of Comeback Against Express
The Sugar Land Space Cowboys (1-1) dropped game two of their three-game set with the Round Rock Express (1-1) 8-6 Saturday evening from Dell Diamond. The offense started off hot with a bloop double down the right field line from Corey Julks, setting up Joey Loperfido for a two-run home
The Sugar Land Space Cowboys (1-1) dropped game two of their three-game set with the Round Rock Express (1-1) 8-6 Saturday evening from Dell Diamond.
The offense started off hot with a bloop double down the right field line from Corey Julks, setting up Joey Loperfido for a two-run home run, his second of the season. In the third inning, Shay Whitcomb came through with a two-out RBI single to plate Trey Cabbage, who had walked and stolen second base.
Another day, another two-run homer for Joey Loperfido 😮💨 #SetTheCourse pic.twitter.com/TH9EGOUTr6
— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) March 31, 2024
Round Rock fought back, first with a solo shot from Davis Wenzel in the second inning and then a string of hits to give the Express four more runs in the fifth inning.
Loperfido’s offensive production did not stop in the first; with one on in the top of the eighth inning, he sent a Jack Leiter (W, 1-0) fastball over the fence in right field to tie the game at five apiece, his fourth multi-home run game of his career. He was the lone Space Cowboy to record a multi-hit performance on the night, driving in four runs on two swings of the bat.
Oops… HE DID IT AGAIN 😵
— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) March 31, 2024
📏 420 FT
🔥 106.1 MPH pic.twitter.com/864sK1LHxi
Starter Misael Tamarez allowed five runs through 4.1 innings of work, striking out six on the night. Reliever Joel Kuhnel (L, 0-1)suffered the loss after allowing three runs on four hits in the top of the ninth, including a pair of RBI doubles to give Round Rock the edge.
Sugar Land nearly pulled level again in the ninth inning. Facing RHP Marc Church (S, 1), Whitcomb led off with a walk and David Hensley double to right, putting two men in scoring position with no outs. An RBI groundout from Pedro León brought in a run, moving the Space Cowboys within two at 8-6. Church struck out the next batter, bringing up Jesús Bastidas as the tying run. Sugar Land’s shortstop worked a 10-pitch at bat and launched a 407-foot drive to straightaway center that was brought back by Elier Hernandez, robbing the Space Cowboys of another game-tying homer and ending the game.
The Space Cowboys finish the series Sunday afternoon against the Round Rock Express at Dell Diamond in Round Rock, Texas. RHP Rhett Kouba is scheduled to start for Sugar Land against Round Rock RHP Adrian Sampson for a 1:05 pm first pitch. The game can be heard on ESPN 92.5 FM or online here and seen on MiLB.TV. The first home game of the season is April 2 at 6:05 pm CT against the Las Vegas Aviators.
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.