Express Fall Short to Albuquerque On Opening Night, 9-4

ROUND ROCK, Texas – The Round Rock Express (0-1) dropped its first contest of the season to the Albuquerque Isotopes (1-0) on Friday night by a final score of 9-4 in the team’s 2023 season opener at Dell Diamond.

Round Rock reliever LHP John King (0-1, 40.50) took home the loss after his 0.2-inning outing saw three earned runs, five hits and one strikeout. The win went to Albuquerque LHP PJ Poulin (1-0, 0.00), who threw two shutout innings and punched out two batters.

Along the Train Tracks:

• Albuquerque jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning when RF Nolan Jones blasted a home run to right field and scored CF Brenton Doyle.
• Round Rock took over 3-2 in the third as 1B Yoshi Tsutsugo doubled to send CF J.P. Martinez and SS Jonathan Ornelas across home plate. C Sam Huff plated the third run on a bases-loaded walk from RF Elier Hernandez.
• After 3B Aaron Schunk hit a solo dinger in the fourth frame to tie the game, the Isotopes tacked on three runs in the fifth thanks to another two-run homer from Jones and a run from SS Coco Montes.
• The Express added a run to their total in the bottom of the sixth inning, but the Isotopes scored one run in each of the final three innings to pull ahead for the eventual 9-4 victory.

E-Train Excerpts:

• Friday night’s attendance of 11,217 clocked in as the fourth largest crowd at a home opener in franchise history. It was also the first time that Round Rock opened on a Friday since the 2016 season and the first time the team has ever opened their season during the month of March.
• Both SS Jonathan Ornelas and 2B Justin Foscue made their Triple-A debuts on Friday night. Ornelas finished 0-3 with two walks, two strikeouts and one run scored while Foscue went 0-4.
• LF Clint Frazier, 1B Yoshi Tsutsugo and RHP Jacob Barnes all saw their first action in a Round Rock uniform. Frazier hit 2-5, Tsutsugo finished the night 2-4 with two RBI and Barnes allowed one earned run on two hits and one walk with one strikeout in 1.1 innings.
• After Friday’s loss, Round Rock falls to 9-14 overall on Opening Day.

Next up: Round Rock and Albuquerque are set for game two on Saturday, April 1 at Dell Diamond, with LHP Cody Bradford (--) scheduled to make his Triple-A debut for the Express against Isotopes RHP Karl Kauffmann (--).

Single game tickets as well as full season and mini season membership plans are on sale now. 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!