Ever So Close & Ever So Costly
September 12, 2015 - Texas League (TL1)
Midland RockHounds News Release
Jaycob Brugman went 2-for-4 with a double, home run and two runs scored, as the RockHounds took a 2-1 series lead over the Corpus Christi Hooks in the Texas League South Division Series, with a 9-5 win on Friday night at Security Bank Ballpark. (Frank Longobardo / Midland RockHounds)
The RockHounds won an old-fashioned slugfest Friday night at Security Bank Ballpark, defeating the Corpus Christi Hooks, 9-5, and moving to within one win of a second consecutive trip to the Texas League Championship Series. The win, though, came at a price.
Chris Jensen continued his late-season string of outstanding performances, pitching six strong innings, allowing three runs on six hits and one walk while striking out six batters. The 'Hounds backed Jensen's quality start by building an early 5-0 lead before withstanding a pair of Hooks rallies to move to within one win of earning the right to meet the Northwest Arkansas Naturals for the Texas League championship (see below).
Jaycob Brugman (see "Stat of the Day," below), Renato Nuî=B1ez and Ryon Healy led the RockHounds' 14-hit attack. Brugman and Nuî=B1ez each went 2-for-4 with three runs batted in (Nunez leads both clubs with eight RBI in the first three games of the series) while Healy finished the game 4-for-5 with a run and an RBI.
The 'Hounds, however, appear to have lost two key players, with both Josh Whitaker and Chad Pinder both leaving the game due to injuries. Whitaker, who had opened the series 5-for-10 with a pair of monster home runs, suffered a broken finger on a check-swing strikeout in the fourth inning. Pinder, the Texas League Player of the Year, is believed to have suffered a hamstring injury while making a brilliant catch on a foul ball down the left field line in the eighth.
A win Saturday night (7:00 first pitch) would put the defending league champion RockHounds back in the title series for the second straight season, while a Corpus Christi win would force a fifth and deciding game Sunday afternoon at Security Bank Ballpark.
Texas League Stories from September 12, 2015
- Ever So Close & Ever So Costly - Midland RockHounds
- Hounds Haunt Hooks - Corpus Christi Hooks
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