Dance Halls Boot Honky Tonks 5-2
June 24, 2018 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Round Rock Express News Release
NASHVILLE, Tennessee - The Round Rock Dance Halls (33-42) allowed just five hits in a 5-2 win over the Nashville Honky Tonks (33-40) Sunday night at First Tennessee Park after clinching a second straight Battle for the Boot Championship the night before.
Round Rock starter RHP Richelson Pena (1-1, 6.30) picked up his first Triple-A win of the season for his 5.0-inning effort. The 24-year-old hurler permitted just two earned runs on four base hits, striking out three and walking two before handing things off to the Dance Halls bullpen. Honky Tonks reliever RHP Kyle Finnegan (0-2, 6.14) took home the loss after giving up three earned runs in the top of the sixth.
Connecting on his second round-tripper in as many trips to the plate, Dance Halls CF Drew Robinson led off tonight's ballgame with a solo shot to right field that put Round Rock ahead 1-0 in the top of the first.
In the bottom half of the opening frame, Nashville came up with a quick response to immediately level the score at 1-1. SS Jorge Mateo started the side with a line drive single to centerfield before advancing to second when CF Jake Smolinski worked a two-out walk. After stealing third to put runners on the corners, Mateo came home as Dance Halls SS Cliff Pennington committed a throwing error on a groundball off the bat of Honky Tonks DH Anthony Garcia.
Both teams traded scoreless frames until the bottom of the fourth when Nashville took a 2-1 lead off Pena. The first batter of the inning, Garcia, doubled off the wall in left field. 3B Sheldon Neuse later picked up the RBI on a looping single to center.
The Dance Halls roared back with a four-run frame in the sixth to jump ahead 5-2. LF Willie Calhoun and DH Christian Lopes kick-started the rally when they produced back-to-back singles to place runners on first and third with no outs. Both Calhoun and Lopes were plated when RF Ryan Rua doubled on a line drive to right field to give Round Rock a 3-2 advantage. After C Tony Sanchez walked, 3B Nick Noonan roped a two-run double of his own, extending the gap to 5-2.
With the lead secured, Dance Halls LHP Jeffrey Springs replaced Pena on the mound and went on to strike out the first four batters he faced. In total, Springs punched out seven Honky Tonks batters over 2.2 shutout innings while allowing just two men to reach base on a pair of walks. Round Rock RHP Ricky Rodriguez finishing things off in the eighth and ninth to earn his second save of the year as he surrendered one hit in 1.1 frames.
The Dance Halls will turn back into the Express when they return to Dell Diamond on Monday night for the first of four games against the Omaha Storm Chasers (35-39). Round Rock RHP Chris Jensen (0-0, 7.17) is set to make his first start with the club in opposition of an Omaha pitcher yet to be announced. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. CDT.
For more information on the Express, visit RoundRockExpress.com or call (512) 255-2255. Keep up with the Express on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter!
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