Drillers Edge Cardinals in 11-Inning Battle, 8-7
June 13, 2015 - Texas League (TL1)
Springfield Cardinals News Release
Tulsa, OK - After the Springfield Cardinals dug out of a five-run deficit to tie it, the Tulsa Drillers claimed the hard-fought 8-7 win in 11 innings before 7,696 fans at ONEOK Field on Saturday night. The game was delayed for 25 minutes due to rain in the bottom of the third.
The Drillers (26-34) got out to a powerful start with a pair of homers in the bottom of the first against RHP Kurt Heyer. With two on and one away, 1B Lars Anderson pulled a fastball over the right field fence for a three-run shot. 2B Brandon Dixon then followed with a solo home run to left field, opening a 4-0 lead for Tulsa.
The Cardinals (25-36) started chipping away right away in the top of the second against RHP Chris Anderson. 1B Jonathan Rodriguez led off with a walk, followed quickly by a sharp single from C Michael Ohlman. One out later, 2B Bruce Caldwell pulled an RBI double inside the first base line, scoring Rodriguez to cut the deficit down to 4-1.
Tulsa, though, countered with one run in the bottom of the second. RF Jeremy Rathjen started the stanza with a double, before moving to third on a sacrifice bunt from Anderson. Rathjen then charged home on an RBI groundout by LF Adam Law, increasing the lead back to four runs for Tulsa, 5-1.
However, the Cardinals came right back with one run of their own in the top of the third. CF Charlie Tilson led off with a walk to reach base. With LF Mike O'Neill at the plate, Tilson took off on a pitch and stole his team-leading 21st base. The steal led to two throwing errors on the play, as C Ali Solis misfired the first throw into center field, enabling Tilson to pop up and head for third. CF Peter Lavin tried to nab Tilson at third base, but his throw bounced past third base and out of play, allowing Tilson to score all the way from first base on the play and chip the Drillers lead to 5-2.
Heyer retired the first two outs in the bottom of the third in quick order, before the game was delayed for 25 minutes due to rain. After the delay, the Drillers strung together consecutive two-out singles from Dixon and SS Luis Mateo. With runners at the corners, Tulsa pulled off a successful double steal, enabling Dixon to score for the 6-2 lead.
Rathjen led off the bottom of the fourth with a solo home run, before two more Drillers reached with two down later in the inning to lead to LHP Iden Nazario taking over. After a hit batter, Nazario dealt a strikeout to get the Cardinals out of the frame with no further damage being done and trailing, 7-2.
Springfield refused to go away, striking for three runs in the top of the fifth. With Tilson and O'Neill once again both reaching base to start the rally, RF Jeremy Hazelbaker, the former Driller, crushed a two-run double to left-center field. Hazelbaker then raced home on an RBI single to center field from Rodriguez, bringing the Cardinals within two runs, 7-5.
Nazario kept the Cardinals within striking distance with scoreless innings in the bottom of the fifth and sixth, before Springfield squared it in the seventh. With one away, Hazelbaker worked a walk to get on. Rodriguez then struck again, this time with a towering two-run home run to left field, tying the game at 7-7 with his second and third RBIs of the night.
After Nazario capped his 2.2-inning scoreless relief outing with the first out in the seventh, RHP Joey Donofrio took over on the mound. Donofrio followed suit with 2.2 scoreless stanzas of his own, keeping it tied through the ninth and helping force extra frames.
RHP Ronnie Shaban (L, 0-1) took over for the 10th and stranded a pair of runners in the scoreless inning. However, Tulsa dealt the final blow in the bottom of the 11th. CF Peter Lavin led off with his fourth single of the night, before taking second on a wild pitch. One out later, the Cardinals intentionally walked Anderson, putting two on with one down for Dixon. Shaban won the battle against Dixon with a fly out to left, but Mateo came through with two outs. Facing his former club, Mateo ripped a walk-off RBI single inside the left field line, scoring Lavin from second for the 8-7 win for Tulsa in 11 innings. RHP Mike Thomas (W, 1-1) pitched the scoreless top of the 11th for Tulsa to log the win.
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