Drillers Celebrate Championship but Drop Opener
TULSA, OK - On a festive Opening Night when the Tulsa Drillers celebrated their 2018 Texas League Championship by raising the official championship banner above ONEOK Field, the Arkansas Travelers played the role of party spoiling guests. The Travelers twice erased Drillers leads before rallying for a pair of runs
TULSA, OK - On a festive Opening Night when the Tulsa Drillers celebrated their 2018 Texas League Championship by raising the official championship banner above ONEOK Field, the Arkansas Travelers played the role of party spoiling guests. The Travelers twice erased Drillers leads before rallying for a pair of runs in the tenth to post a 6-4 extra-innings win in front of a sellout crowd of 7,910 in downtown Tulsa Thursday evening.
The rallies from the Travelers came when Tulsa starting pitcher
The Drillers had wasted little time in giving May a lead as
For the Travelers, they wasted little time in getting on the scoreboard once May departed. Reliever
Tulsa used its first two home runs of the season to go back in front. With two outs in the bottom half of the sixth, former big leaguer
In the seventh,
Arkansas rallied against Tulsa reliever
The Drillers plated their fourth run in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings. Lux doubled with one out to score
The Travelers took advantage of Minor League Baseball's extra-innings rule, where a runner is placed at second base, to score a pair of unearned runs against Tulsa reliever
The Drillers were unable to match the two runs as
WHAT YOU MISSED
Los Angeles Dodgers legend and pinch-hit extraordinaire Manny Mota threw out the season's ceremonial first pitch prior to the game.
Lux and
The Drillers bullpen surrendered six runs on seven hits and five walks in its five innings.
The two teams combined for 26 strikeouts in the game with three different Tulsa hitters striking out three times each.
Each team used five pitchers in the game.
Arkansas starting pitcher
UP NEXT: Arkansas at Tulsa, Friday, April 5, 7:05 p.m. at ONEOK Field. RHP