Drillers Lose High-Scoring Series Finale
TL Tulsa Drillers

Drillers Lose High-Scoring Series Finale

July 6, 2025 - Texas League (TL)
Tulsa Drillers News Release


Sean McLain homers for the Tulsa Drillers
Sean McLain homers for the Tulsa Drillers
(Tulsa Drillers, Credit: Ed Bailey)

Wichita, KS - On opening night of the 2025 season, the Tulsa Drillers were unable to hold a nine-run lead in their first loss of season. On Sunday afternoon, the Drillers failed to hold a seven-run lead and a late three-run lead in a high-scoring series finale at Equity Bank Park. The Drillers and Wichita Wind Surge combined for 30 hits and scored 28 combined runs as Tulsa fell 15-13 to close out the six-game series.

With the loss, the Drillers dropped the six-game series with the Wind Surge, with Tulsa falling in four of the six games.

The loss also brought the Coors Light Propeller Series back to a tie at nine wins each, with only six games remaining between the two teams this season.

The high-scoring affair began with the two teams combining for 12 runs in the first inning. The Drillers set a new season high for runs scored in an inning with seven in the first after bringing ten hitters to the plate. Newcomer Kyle Nevin drove in Tulsa's first two runs with his bases-loaded single. An error and a sacrifice fly produced Tulsa's next two runs. Kendall Simmons followed with an RBI double to score the Drillers fifth run of the inning, and Sean McLain plated the final two runs on his two-run homer.

The Wind Surge quickly responded with five runs in the bottom half of the first with four runs scoring on Kala'i Rosario's grand slam and the fifth on Jose Salas' RBI double.

The Drillers took an 8-5 lead in the second on Nevin's sacrifice fly.

The Wind Surge responded by scoring four consecutive runs to take the lead. In the bottom half of the second, Ricardo Olivar hit a three-run homer to tie the game at 8-8. Walker Jenkins followed in the third with a single to score Ben Ross and give the Wind Surge the lead.

Tulsa was not done scoring as John Rhodes put the Drillers back in front with a two-run blast in the fifth. Nevin and Ezequiel Pagan generated two more runs one inning later to increase Tulsa's lead to 12-9.

Wichita scored five more runs over the sixth and seventh innings to take a 14-12 lead.

Tulsa used a sacrifice fly in the eighth to bring the game back to within a run.

Wichita also produced a run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning, and the Drillers did not have an answer in the ninth as former Driller Cole Percival closed out the win for the Wind Surge.

INSIDE THE GAME

*The Drillers 13 runs scored matched a season-high that was set on May 15 against Northwest Arkansas.

*Griffin Lockwood-Powell finished with three hits and a walk to increase his on-base streak to 35 straight games, the longest on-base streak in the Texas League this season and the third-longest active streak in all of Minor League Baseball.

*McLain's home run was his second of the season. The blast for Rhodes was his sixth.

*Jorge Benitez picked off Rosario at second base to give Tulsa pitchers 11 total pickoffs this season. That puts the Drillers tied with Arkansas for the second-most in the Texas League.

*Nevin set a new career high with his five runs driven in during Sunday's game.

*Ronan Kopp was charged with his first run allowed since May 16, but the run was unearned. Kopp has still not allowed an earned run in his last 19.2 innings pitched.

*Kelvin Bautista was charged with the loss to drop his record to 3-2. Bautista allowed four runs on two hits and two walks and recorded only two outs.

UP NEXT

The Drillers will travel to North Little Rock to begin a six-game series against the Arkansas Travelers on Tuesday. First pitch for game one is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. on Tuesday, and the starting pitchers are expected to be:

Tulsa - RHP Peter Heubeck (2-4, 4.22 ERA)

Arkansas- RHP Michael Morales (1-4, 4.70 ERA)

Check out the Tulsa Drillers Statistics




Images from this story

Sean McLain homers for the Tulsa Drillers
Sean McLain homers for the Tulsa Drillers
(Ed Bailey)		   



Texas League Stories from July 6, 2025


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