Drillers Clinch Winning Road Trip with 5-1 Win in Corpus Christi
TL Tulsa Drillers

Drillers Clinch Winning Road Trip with 5-1 Win in Corpus Christi

August 9, 2025 - Texas League (TL)
Tulsa Drillers News Release


Tulsa Drillers' Roque Gutierrez on the mound
Tulsa Drillers' Roque Gutierrez on the mound
(Tulsa Drillers, Credit: Vanessa Buentello)

Corpus Christi, TX - The Tulsa Drillers continued their impressive road trip Saturday night with 5-1 win in Corpus Christi, their second straight over the Hooks. The victory guaranteed the Drillers a winning record on their longest road trip of the season. They have won 7 of the first 11 games on the trip to Corpus Christi and Midland, Texas with just one game remaining on the trip, a late Sunday afternoon finale against the Hooks at Whataburger Field.

With the win, Tulsa moved four games over .500 in the second half of the season and maintained sole possession of second place in the Texas League's North Division with a 21-17 second-half record. Springfield won the first-half division title and currently leads the second-half race. If the Cardinals also win the second half, the team that finishes in second place in the second half will claim the second playoff spot and meet the Redbirds in the first round of the TL playoffs.

Saturday's game against the Hooks was scoreless through the first three innings before the teams exchanged runs in the middle innings. The Drillers struck first when they opened the scoring in the top of the fourth inning. Kyle Nevin walked and scored on a double by the red-hot Chris Newell.

The Hooks responded in the bottom of the fourth when a walk and a pair of base hits loaded the bases against Tulsa starting pitcher Roque Gutierrez. Trevor Austin flied out to right for the first out of the inning, and it turned into a double play when James Tibbs III threw out Wes Clarke who was tagging and trying to score on the fly out.

Following the double play, the Hooks were still able to tie the game when Jeron Williams provided a two-out hit with a lined single to left field that tied the game at 1-1.

The Drillers answered in the top of the fifth to go back in front. Taylor Young worked a leadoff walk and then picked up his 30th stolen base with a steal of second. From there, he scored on Sean McLain's base hit, giving Tulsa a 2-1 lead.

The Drillers added to their lead with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh. With one out, John Rhodes singled and advanced to second on a ground out from McLain. He scored on a two-out base hit from Zach Ehrhard.

Ehrhard raced home himself on a double by Tibbs III, upping the Tulsa lead to 4-1.

Ehrhard added a final insurance run in the ninth inning with a single that scored Rhodes.

Four Tulsa relievers combined blank Corpus Christi over the final four innings, allowing just two hits.

INSIDE THE GAME

*Newell's double in the fourth inning extended his hitting streak to 10 straight games and his on-base streak to 23 straight games. It is his longest hitting streak of the season and the second longest for a Drillers batter. Young hit safely in 14 straight games from June 27-July 12. In his hitting streak, Newell is 16-43 for a .372 average.

*Ehrhard finished 2-4 and has now hit safely in all six games he has played in since joining the Drillers. The former Oklahoma State University outfielder is 10-24 with the Drillers for a .417 batting average.

*It was a second straight strong start on the mound for Gutierrez. The right-hander allowed just one run on five hits in five complete innings. He walked three batters and struck out two. In his last two starts, he has allowed just the one run in 12.0 innings. The win upped his Double-A record to 2-1.

*The Tulsa bullpen handled the final four innings. Livan Reinoso followed Gutierrez to the mound and got two outs in the sixth but departed after walking two batters. Jerming Rosario came on and got a strikeout to end that threat. Rosario also got two outs in the seventh before departing. He has been scored upon just once in his last ten outings, recording a 1.35 ERA during the stretch.

*Christian Suarez worked two scoreless innings, getting strikeouts on five of the six outs that he recorded. Suarez extended his scoreless streak to eight straight games and 14.2 innings.

*Brandon Neeck got the final out in the bottom of the ninth. Neeck has retired 15 straight batters over his last 5 games.

UP NEXT

On Sunday, the Drillers will close out their series with the Hooks and their two-week road trip. The finale is slated to begin at 5:05 p.m. at Whataburger Field, and the starting pitchers are scheduled to be:

Tulsa - LHP Jackson Ferris (7-6, 4.22 ERA)

Corpus Christi - TBA

Check out the Tulsa Drillers Statistics




Images from this story

Tulsa Drillers' Roque Gutierrez on the mound
Tulsa Drillers' Roque Gutierrez on the mound
(Vanessa Buentello)		   



Texas League Stories from August 9, 2025


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