Drillers Snap Skid with Shutout Win
July 16, 2020 - Texas Collegiate League (TCL)
Tulsa Drillers News Release
Tulsa Drillers first baseman Aidan Nagle delivered a three-run homer in the Drillers 8-0 win Thursday
(Tulsa Drillers, Credit: Rich Crimi)
Tulsa, OK - The Tulsa Drillers snapped out of an offensive slump Thursday night with their third highest scoring total of the season. The Drillers produced a pair of four-run innings to support another strong performance on the mound and Tulsa blanked the Amarillo Sod Dogs 8-0 at ONEOK Field. The victory ended a two-game losing streak in which the Drillers scored just one run and moved them to within one game of the first-place Dogs in the North Division standings of the Texas Collegiate League.
Tulsa took the lead with four runs in the fourth inning. It began when Aidan Nagle walked and Alec Sanchez reached on an error. With one out, Humberto Torres singled home Nagle. Another walk loaded the bases, and Cam Chick reached on an infield single that plated a second run, and when the throw to first was wild, Torres came home with the third run. A double steal from Chick and Hueston Morrill produced the fourth run.
First baseman Aidan Nagle delivered a three-run homer in the Drillers 8-0 win Thursday night at ONEOK Field. (Rich Crimi)
TAnother four-run outburst from the Drillers doubled the lead in the sixth. Chick drew a leadoff walk, moved to second on a balk, stole third base before scoring on a base hit by Jamal O'Guinn. After the fifth error of the night from the Sod Dogs put runners at first and second, Nagle drove a pitch inside the right field foul pole and well over the fence for a three-run homer that made it 8-0.
Right fielder O'Guinn delivered one of the defensive plays of the season in the third inning. Amarillo's Karl Koerper, in his first at-bat of the year, hit a deep drive to right field. Koerper delivered a bat flip worthy of Korea's KBO League, but O'Guinn tracked down the drive before toppling over the right field fence. Instead of a home run, the USC outfielder held on for the catch, robbing Koerper.
A set of four Tulsa pitchers combined on the staff's first shutout of the season.
TULSA HITTERS: Nagle led the Drillers offense, finishing 2-4 with 3 runs batted in. His sixth-inning homer was his second of the season.
Torres, who was making just his second start behind the plate, also went 2-4 with a run scored and an RBI.
Morrill was officially 1-2, but he reached base three of the four times he came to the plate.
Outfielder Breydon Daniel, who was added to the roster earlier in the day, made his first appearance. Daniel, who will play at OU next spring, was a late-game substitute and grounded into a fielder's choice in his only plate appearance.
TULSA PITCHERS: In his third outing of the season, Kale Davis turned in a solid start. The OSU right-hander worked 3.0 shutout innings, allowing two hits while issuing two walks and striking out three.
Riley Boyd followed Davis to the mound and picked up the win, pitching 3.1 scoreless frames. The Western Kentucky hurler surrendered just one hit.
Northeastern State's (Okla.) Colton Williams came on next, making his season debut by retiring all five batters he face.
North Carolina Central's Austin Vernon also made his debut, and it was also impressive. Vernon needed only ten pitches to set the Sod Dogs down in order in the ninth, getting two strikeouts.
UP NEXT: The Drillers will now begin a three-game series at ONEOK Field Friday evening with the Texarkana Twins. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Tickets are available online. The game can also be viewed online with a subscription to TCL-TV.
The starting pitchers are scheduled to be:
Texarkana - TBA
Tulsa - RHP Bryce Osmond (1-0, 0.90 ERA)
Images from this story
 Tulsa Drillers first baseman Aidan Nagle delivered a three-run homer in the Drillers 8-0 win Thursday (Rich Crimi) |
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