Drillers Claim Win with Ninth Inning Rally
July 5, 2025 - Texas League (TL)
Tulsa Drillers News Release
Tulsa Drillers pitcher Patrick Copen
(Tulsa Drillers, Credit: Lexi Ashcraft)
Wichita, KS - The Tulsa Drillers claimed a dramatic victory over the Wichita Wind Surge on Saturday night at Equity Bank Park to snap a two-game losing streak. The Drillers entered the ninth inning trailing by a run before Chris Newell tied the game with an RBI double, and Yeiner Fernandez drove in the winning run that gave Tulsa a 3-2 victory.
The late comeback win was the first win for the Drillers this season when trailing after the eighth inning. Before tonight's result, Tulsa was 0-41 when trailing after the eighth inning.
The win also put the Drillers back in front in this year's Coors Light Propeller Series. Tulsa now leads the series 9-8, with seven games remaining between the two teams this season.
It did not take long for the Wind Surge to produce the opening run on Saturday night. Three singles in the first inning, capped by Kyler Fedko's base hit that scored Walker Jenkins to give Wichita the 1-0 lead.
The Drillers trailed until the fifth inning. With two outs, they put two runners on base on a single and a hit batter to set up Taylor Young, who singled to score Newell to make the score 1-1.
Both starting pitchers allowed just one run before exiting the game with similar pitching lines. Patrick Copen made his fifth start for Tulsa in the game and gave up five hits and issued two walks with three strikeouts. Wichita starter Christian MacLeod gave up three hits and one walk with three strikeouts as he also departed the game after the fifth inning.
In the seventh, Wichita drew a one-out walk to help regain the lead. After the walk, Tulsa pitcher Robinson Ortiz committed a throwing error on a pickoff attempt at first base which allowed Fedko to reach third. A groundout from Nate Baez followed to allow Fedko to score and give the Wind Surge a 2-1 lead.
The Drillers needed only two pitches in the ninth inning to tie the game. John Rhodes began the inning with a single to left, and Newell doubled on the next pitch to make the score 2-2. The scoring did not stop there as a lineout and a strikeout followed before Fernandez drove in the go-ahead run with a two-out double that scored Newell and gave Tulsa its first lead of the night at 3-2.
A thrilling bottom of the ninth took place as Baez hit a one-out double that just missed being a home run as it hit off the top of the outfield wall. Baez's hit was the last of the night as Antonio Knowles retired the final two batters on a groundout and a strikeout to secure the victory for Tulsa.
INSIDE THE GAME
*Knowles pitched the final inning and a third to secure his fourth win of the season and his second win in his last two appearances.
*Griffin Lockwood-Powell increased his on-base streak to 34 games with his walk in the fourth inning. The streak is the longest in the Texas League and the third longest in all of Minor League Baseball.
*Newell finished with three hits, which set a new season high for the lefty slugger.
*Young's fifth-inning single increased his hitting streak to eight straight games, one game from matching the season high for a Drillers batter.
*Fernandez's winning hit was his first RBI recorded in his last 14 games.
UP NEXT
The Drillers and the Wind Surge will wrap up their split series with game six on Sunday afternoon in Wichita. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. and the starting pitchers are expected to be:
Tulsa - RHP Roque Gutierrez (1-0, 3.24 ERA)
Wichita - RHP John Klein (6-4, 3.00 ERA)
Images from this story
 Tulsa Drillers pitcher Patrick Copen (Lexi Ashcraft) |
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