Big Offensive Night Gives Drillers Second Straight Win
May 16, 2025 - Texas League (TL)
Tulsa Drillers News Release
Damon Keith of the Tulsa Drillers rounds third after a homer
(Tulsa Drillers, Credit: Rich Crimi)
Tulsa, OK - The Tulsa Drillers won their second straight game over the Northwest Arkansas Naturals on Thursday night thanks to one of their biggest offensive performances of the season. Tulsa set multiple offensive, season highs and was led by Damon Keith who blasted two home runs and drove in seven runs in the Drillers 13-10 win at ONEOK Field.
The win did not come easily, as Tulsa had to dig out of an early hole. The high-scoring night began with the Naturals scoring three runs in the first inning. Jac Caglianone drove in the first run with his double and scored on Gavin Cross' two-run homer.
Tulsa answered with three runs in the bottom of the first on Keith's two-run triple and John Rhodes' sacrifice fly.
After Northwest Arkansas scored two more in the second inning to retake the lead, but the Drillers responded to take the lead 6-5 on Keith's three-run blast in the bottom of the second.
An RBI double and an RBI single allowed the Naturals to go back in front 7-6 in the third inning, but the bottom of the third was Tulsa's biggest inning of the night.
The inning's scoring began with a throwing error on a double steal that allowed Rhodes to score. Sean McLain's RBI double put the Drillers back in front 8-7. McLain eventually scored by stealing home and Keith capped the inning with his second home run of the night to put the Drillers up 11-7.
A run-scoring ground out in the fourth inning and a force out at second base in the seventh allowed the Naturals to bring the score within two at 11-9.
The Drillers added to important insurance runs in the eighth on RBI singles from newcomer Kole Myers and McLain.
With a four-lead, reliever Kelvin Ramirez came on for the ninth and promptly walked the first three Naturals batters to bring the potential game-tying run to the plate in Caglianone.
Ramirez recovered to induce a ground ball from the dangerous Caglianone that turned into a force out that plated one run. The game ended promptly when Spencer Nivens followed and lined into a double play.
INSIDE THE GAME
*Keith finished with seven runs batted in which was the most since Austin Beck drove in seven on June 5, 2024. The two home run game was Keith's third of his professional career. His other two came in 2022, once with Rancho Cucamonga and once with Great Lakes.
*The Drillers set a new season high by stealing five bases in the game. Young led the team with two and now has 12 for the season, which is tied for the fifth most in the Texas League.
*Young finished with four hits and increased his on-base streak to 17 straight games and his hitting streak to six games.
*Yeiner Fernandez, Myers, McLain and Rhodes also recorded multiple hits.
*Tulsa set new season highs with the 13 runs and with 17 hits.
*The Drillers wore special Chicken Dancers uniform for 918 Weekend. Tulsa will wear the uniforms for the remainder of the series to honor the Chicken Dance that originated at Tulsa's Oktoberfest.
UP NEXT
The Drillers and Naturals will continue their series on Friday night at ONEOK Field. First pitch is slated for 7:00 p.m. and the starting pitchers are scheduled to be:
NWA - LHP Hunter Owen (1-1, 4.44 ERA)
Tulsa - RHP Peter Heubeck (0-2, 5.17 ERA)
Images from this story
 Damon Keith of the Tulsa Drillers rounds third after a homer (Rich Crimi) |
Texas League Stories from May 16, 2025
- Homestand Highlights: May 20 - May 25 - Northwest Arkansas Naturals
- Big Offensive Night Gives Drillers Second Straight Win - Tulsa Drillers
- Cross Homers in 13-10 Loss on Thursday - Northwest Arkansas Naturals
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
