Round Rock Drops Heartbreaker as El Paso Hits Walk-Off Grand Slam

EL PASO, Texas – Former Round Rock Express (25-19) 1B Patrick Kivlehan burned his former team on Friday night, hitting a walk-off grand slam with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the El Paso Chihuahuas (19-24) a 9-8 victory. The back-and-forth contest featured four ties and five lead changes before the Chihuahuas ultimately leveled the series at a game apiece.

Express RHP Jake Lemoine (4-1, 3.57) suffered the loss after walking the bases loaded prior to serving up Kivlehan’s walk-off blast. On the winning side, Chihuahuas RHP Sam McWilliams (1-1, 14.29) tossed 0.2 innings of relief in the top of the ninth, picking up a strikeout along the way. Round Rock starter RHP Drew Anderson posted another solid outing, holding his opponents to three runs on six hits while striking out five in 5.1 innings.

El Paso picked up a quick 2-0 lead through the first three innings of play. 2B Tucupita Marcano led off the game with a single before promptly stealing second base. An ensuing Kivlehan double opened the scoring on the night. In the third, Chihuahuas CF Brian O’Grady reached on a fielder’s choice before another RBI double by Kivlehan.

Round Rock evened the game with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth. LF Jason Martin rocketed a leadoff double to center field before moving to third on a Leody Taveras groundout. A Daniel Camarena wild pitch in the next at-bat allowed Martin to race home. 3B John Hicks then leveled the game with a solo homer.

The tie proved to be short-lived as El Paso SS Pedro Florimón hit a solo home run of his own in the bottom of the frame. The back-and-forth affair continued into the fifth as E-Train 1B Elier Hernandez singled before back-to-back doubles by 2B Ryan Dorow and RF Carl Chester gave the visitors a 4-3 edge. Round Rock added another run in the seventh as Chester walked, stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Martin single.

The Chihuahuas forced another tie as RF Ben Ruta led off the bottom of the seventh with a walk before taking second on a Michael Cantu groundout. Marcano then drove Ruta home with a single before 3B Matthew Batten jumped aboard with a single of his own. The third baseman later came home to score on a Kivlehan fielder’s choice to reset the score at 5-5.

Round Rock regained the lead in the eighth. Dorow was hit with a pitch, then Chester singled and SS Yonny Hernandez reached base on a fielder’s choice. Martin broke the tie with a sacrifice fly that allowed Dorow to fly home prior to an RBI single by Taveras that extended the gap to 7-5. DH Curtis Terry added one final run in the ninth with a solo homer to extend the final score to 8-5.

After recording a quick flyout to begin the ninth inning, Lemoine walked Marcano, Batten and O’Grady in consecutive order before allowing Kivlehan’s walk-off grand slam on the first pitch of his at-bat, cementing the 9-8 final score.

Round Rock and El Paso meet again on Saturday night at Southwest University Park. Express LHP Hyeon-Jong Yang (0-0, 4.91) is scheduled to face Chihuahuas LHP Jerry Keel (1-1, 7.83). First pitch is set for 8:05 p.m.

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