Big Rally Gives Drillers Fourth Straight Win
June 30, 2025 - Texas League (TL)
Tulsa Drillers News Release
Tulsa Drillers exchange high fives after a comeback win
(Tulsa Drillers, Credit: Homero Amador)
Frisco, TX - The Tulsa Drillers capped their first series of the second half of the season with an exclamation point on Sunday night in Frisco. Carrying a three-game winning streak into the series finale with the RoughRiders, the Drillers matched their biggest comeback of the year with a six-run rally in the eighth inning. The rally turned a five-run deficit into a one-run lead that the Drillers held onto, defeating Frisco 8-7 at Riders Field.
The victory gives the Drillers a 4-2 record to start the second half. It also gave them their first series win on the road this season.
The four-game winning streak matches their longest of the season. They have won four consecutive games on three other occasions this year but have yet to win five in a row.
The two starting pitchers on Sunday, Patrick Copen for Tulsa and Trey Supak for Frisco, were in control of the game through the first three innings. There were no runs scored and only three combined hits through those first three frames.
That changed in the fourth. In the top half of the inning, Griffin Lockwood-Powell and Ezequiel Pagan opened with consecutive singles. Taylor Young plated both with a one-out double that gave the Drillers an initial 2-0 lead.
Copen allowed just two hits through those opening frames and struck out two, but he walked five and needed 67 pitches to navigate the three innings.
The high pitch count meant an early departure as Christian Suarez replaced Copen to open the bottom of the fourth. Suarez gave up a base hit, committed a balk and walked a batter to begin the inning. After a strikeout, Marcus Smith hit a three-run homer off Suarez that gave the RoughRiders a 3-2 lead.
It stayed that way until the bottom of the seventh when Frisco padded its lead.
Reliever Jeisson Cabrera came on to work the inning for the Drillers, and it was an unusually tough night for the right-hander. He gave up four runs on four hits and a walk and retired just one batter. The Riders had a 7-2 cushion when the inning ended.
That's when the Drillers staged their big comeback. After the leadoff batter in the top of the eighth was retired, Noah Miller and Lockwood-Powell hit consecutive doubles to produce the first run.
Pagan singled and Kendall Simmons drew a walk to load the bases before Young also walked to force home another run. Kole Myers followed with a two-run single that cut Tulsa's deficit to just one run.
The Drillers were not finished. John Rhodes followed Myers with a base hit to centerfield that scored both Simmons and Young with the fifth and sixth runs of the inning to put Tulsa in front 8-7.
Reliever Antonio Knowles made sure there was no comeback from the RoughRiders. Knowles retired the final eight Frisco batter in order to close things out and pick up his third win of the year.
The 4-2 record for the Drillers places them in a three-way tie with Wichita and Arkansas atop the Texas League's North Division second-half standings.
INSIDE THE GAME
*The five-run deficit matched the comeback the Drillers staged against Wichita on April 18 at ONEOK Field. They overcame a 6-1 deficit against the Wind Surge and posted a 7-6 win with Yeiner Fernandez's ninth-inning, walk-off hit.
*Lockwood-Powell finished 2-4 to extend his on-base streak to 30 consecutive games. It is the longest on-base streak in the Texas League this season, and it is the second-longest streak in at least the last 17 seasons for a Tulsa hitter.
*Knowles was magnificent in closing out the victory. He retired all eight batters he faced, four on strikeouts. The win improved his record to 3-1. Knowles has given up an earned run in just 4 of his last 18 appearances.
*Reliever Jerming Rosario was also perfect, setting down all six batters he faced in the fifth and sixth innings. It was his second straight scoreless outing out of the pen.
UP NEXT
The Drillers will have an off day on Monday before resuming the Propeller Series with Wichita on Tuesday night at ONEOK Field. The Drillers will host the Wind Surge in a brief, three-game home series with large Fireworks Spectaculars following each game in celebration of the Independence Day holiday.
First pitch on Tuesday is set for 7:00 p.m. and the starting pitchers have not been named.
Images from this story
 Tulsa Drillers exchange high fives after a comeback win (Homero Amador) |
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