Sugar Land Uses First Inning to Power Over Round Rock  

ROUND ROCK, Texas – The Round Rock Express (33-28) fell to the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (25-3) during Tuesday night’s series opener at Dell Diamond by a final score of 6-3. The loss breaks a streak of seven straight victories for the E-Train when playing the Space Cowboys this season.

Round Rock starter RHP Spencer Howard (0-2, 4.91) was tagged with the loss after allowing six runs on five hits and one walk during his 5.0 innings on the bump. Sugar Land reliever RHP Chad Donato (3-3, 4.64) earned the win after a 5.0-inning performance that saw two runs, one of which was earned, one hit and three strikeouts.

Along the Train Tracks:

• Sugar Land jumped ahead early, plating six runs in the first inning that went on to be their only runs of the night. LF JJ Matijevic knocked a leadoff home run to start the action before 3B Corey Julks roped a double into center field and CF Jake Meyers singled to put runners on the corners. After 1B Taylor Jones was hit by a pitch to load the bases, an Enmanuel Valdez single scored Julks and Meyers for a 3-0 lead.
• A force out for RF Lewis Brinson took Jones off the bases and put the inning’s first runner away. Sugar Land SS David Hensley sent Valdez and Brinson across home plate with a double before moving to third thanks to an Express wild pitch. Hensley scored the final run of the inning on an error, putting the Space Cowboys ahead 6-0 to start the night.
• Round Rock C Meibrys Viloria worked a leadoff walk in the bottom of the first before moving to third as LF Josh Sale singled. The catcher put the Express on the board after scoring thanks to a single from SS Davis Wendzel.
• The E-Train kept chipping away at the lead with a second run in the fifth frame. After reaching second base on a Space Cowboys error, CF Bubba Thompson stole his 30th base of the season to move to third. A wild pitch brought the outfielder home as Round Rock trimmed the lead to 6-2.
• RF Elier Hernandez brought Round Rock within 6-3 in the sixth inning with a solo home run to left field. Both teams went scoreless through the final three innings as Sugar Land claimed a series-opening victory.

E-Train Excerpts:

• After a first inning that took 32 minutes and 48 seconds to complete, Round Rock and Sugar Land finished their nine-inning game in 2:16. It marked the shortest nine-inning contest that the Express have played so far this season.
• Round Rock’s pitching staff combined to throw 8.2 innings of hitless baseball against Sugar Land. After allowing all six runs to score in the first inning, starter RHP Spencer Howard did not allow a hit in his final 4.2 innings. Relievers RHP Hever Bueno, RHP Jonathan Hernández, RHP Josh Sborz and RHP Spencer Patton all added one hitless inning apiece and totaled five strikeouts, which combined with Howard’s, totaled 10 for the Express. The crew allowed just two walks.
• C Meibrys Viloria started in the leadoff spot for the first time this season and hit 1-for-3 with one run and one walk during the contest. Viloria has now worked seven walks through his last six games.

Next up: Round Rock and Sugar Land will face off for game two at Dell Diamond on Wednesday for Princess Night. Express RHP A.J. Alexy (3-2, 7.19) is slated to take the mound up against Space Cowboys RHP Shawn Dubin (1-4, 7.00) with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m.

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!