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PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Baseball Club Game Notes - June 12, 2024

June 12, 2024 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Oklahoma City Baseball Club (37-27) at Sugar Land Space Cowboys (41-23)

Game #65 of 150/First Half #65 of 75/Road #35 of 75

Pitching Probables: OKC-RHP Ben Casparius (2-1, 3.68) vs. SUG-RHP Ryan Gusto (0-1, 7.19)

Wednesday, June 12, 2024 | Constellation Field | Sugar Land, Texas | 7:05 p.m. CT

Radio: KGHM-AM 1340 The Game, 1340thegame.com, iHeartRadio; Video: MiLB.tv, Bally Live

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Baseball Club seeks back-to-back wins to open its series against the PCL-leading Sugar Land Space Cowboys when the teams play tonight at 7:05 p.m. at Constellation Field. OKC won last night's series opener, and with 11 games remaining in the first half of the PCL season, Sugar Land leads the league with a 41-23 record, while Oklahoma City is 4.0 games behind in the standings (third place overall and 3.0 games behind second-place Sacramento)...OKC has matched its season high at 10 games above .500 and is also 8-1 in the team's last nine road games.

Last Game: The Oklahoma City Baseball Club scored four runs in the first inning and led from start to finish during an 11-2 win over the Sugar Land Space Cowboys Tuesday night at Constellation Field. Oklahoma City scored four runs on four hits to open the game, including a two-run single with two outs by Austin Gauthier. Sugar Land's Dixon Machado hit a two-run homer in the second inning, and the score stayed at 4-2 until Kody Hoese hit a RBI double in the fifth inning. OKC put together its second four-run inning of the game in the sixth inning, including a two-run single by Drew Avans. Hunter Feduccia ripped a two-run single in the ninth inning to finish the scoring. The OKC pitching staff held Sugar Land scoreless over the final seven innings.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Ben Casparius (2-1) makes his seventh start with OKC and second of the season against the Space Cowboys...He most recently pitched June 6 against Round Rock in the first game of a doubleheader. He allowed one run and one hit with three walks and three strikeouts over 4.0 innings in no decision, as OKC won, 6-1. After four consecutive batters reached base with two outs in the first inning, he retired the final 10 batters he faced...Casparius joined OKC May 7, and over his first two starts allowed just one run and six hits across 11.0 innings, with no extra-base hits...Through six starts at Triple-A, Casparius is holding opponents to a .181 batting average, which ranks first among qualified pitchers in the PCL during that time. He also ranks third with a 1.16 WHIP and sixth with a 3.68 ERA...Before his promotion to OKC, he made five starts with Double-A Tulsa, posting a 2-1 record and 3.32 ERA over 21.2 innings pitched with 11 walks and 34 strikeouts. At the time of his promotion, he ranked tied for third in the Texas League in strikeouts, seventh in ERA and eighth in BAA (.217)...Last season, Casparius split the season between High-A Great Lakes and Tulsa and played with the Glendale Desert Dogs in the Arizona Fall League following the season...He was selected by the Dodgers in the fifth round of the 2021 draft out of UConn after starting his collegiate career at the University of North Carolina and played in College World Series with the Tar Heels in 2018...Tonight is his first career appearance against the Express...He pitched in Sugar Land May 9 in his Triple-A debut, pitching 5.0 scoreless innings with three hits and three walks along with five strikeouts. He earned the win in OKC's 22-3 victory.

Against the Space Cowboys: 2024: 4-3 2023: 18-6 All-time: 50-29 At SUG: 24-16 The top two teams in the PCL East Division meet for their second of three series this season and second of two at Constellation Field during the first half of the season...Sugar Land currently leads the PCL with a 41-23 record while OKC is 4.0 games back of the Space Cowboys...Sugar Land's offense leads the PCL - and all of the Minors - with 434 runs scored and 103 home runs...The teams split a six-game series in Sugar Land May 7-12. Four the games were decided by two runs or less. On May 9, OKC defeated Sugar Land, 22-3, scoring the team's most runs in a game this season and most since scoring 24 runs June 11, 2023 in El Paso. Fueled by that victory, OKC outscored the Space Cowboys, 44-24, in the series, as the teams combined for 10 home runs, including six by OKC all hit by different players...Drew Avans led OKC with 10 hits and Miguel Vargas had a team-leading eight RBI in the first series of 2024 between the teams...OKC lost back-to-back games to Sugar Land during the same series May 10-11 for the first time since Aug. 23-24, 2021. The teams had met 51 times between then and May 10, with OKC going 36-15 over that stretch...OKC won the 2023 series, 18-6, and went 9-2 over the final 11 games against the Space Cowboys. OKC won five of six games in two of the four series and at least four games in each series. The team went 9-3 both at home and on the road...OKC outscored Sugar Land, 121-81, last season as OKC held the Space Cowboys to a .200 batting average.

Getting Offensive: Last night, OKC scored 11 runs and has now scored at least 10 runs in two of the last three games, in three of the last five games and in six of the last 11 games. OKC has scored at least nine runs in seven of the last 13 games, at least six runs in 10 of the last 13 games, and at least five runs in 11 of the last 13 games. Overall this season, OKC has 14 games in which it has scored at least 10 runs...Since May 28, OKC has scored 105 runs for an average of 8.1 runs per game, and the run total ranks second-most in Triple-A during that time behind Las Vegas' 108 runs scored. In contrast, from May 1-27, OKC's 111 runs scored over 23 games were the fewest in the PCL during that timeframe...Overall this season, OKC's 403 runs scored in 64 games (6.3 rpg) are not only the second-most among the 30 Triple-A teams, but second-most among all 120 teams in the full-season Minors. They trail only current opponent Sugar Land (434).

Pitching Prowess: The OKC pitching staff limited the highest-scoring team in the Minors to two runs last night, marking Sugar Land's lowest run total in the last 17 games...After starting pitcher Landon Knack allowed two runs over 4.2 innings, OKC's bullpen trio of Kevin Gowdy, Nick Ramirez and John Rooney held the Space Cowboys scoreless over 4.1 combined innings...OKC has now held opponents to three runs or less in back-to-back games as well as in three of the last four games and in eight of the last 13 games, including six games allowing two runs or less. Since May 28, OKC has allowed 54 runs over 13 games, posting a 3.93 ERA - second-lowest in the PCL during the span. Overall this season, OKC owns a 4.23 ERA - second-lowest in the PCL behind Sacramento (4.22).

Dinger Details: OKC has now been held without a home run in back-to-back games for the first time since May 22-23 against Reno at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Entering Sunday's home game against Round Rock, OKC had compiled a season-best stretch of 11 consecutive games with a home run. OKC hit 23 homers during the streak - tied for the most homers in the PCL with Sugar Land during the period. It was the team's longest string of games with a home run since a 12-game streak Sept. 6-19, 2021 (25 HR)...Overall this season OKC's 87 homers are second-most in the PCL behind Sugar Land's 103 HR...Last night, OKC allowed a home run in the second inning and has allowed five homers over the last three games. It's the first time the team has allowed a home run in three straight games since a five-game streak May 11-16 (6 HR). Entering Saturday, OKC had not allowed even one home run in three of the previous four games nor in 10 of the previous 15 games...OKC has allowed 50 home runs overall this season - fewest in Triple-A. However, since the calendar flipped to June, the team has already allowed 12 home runs through nine games after giving up 12 home runs throughout the entire month of May (27 games). True starting pitchers have allowed five homers in 27.0 innings after allowing five homers in 123.1 innings in May.

Trey Bien: Trey Sweeney singled, scored two runs and picked up a RBI last night as he extended his on-base streak to 18 games. This is his second on-base streak of the season of at least 18 games, as he reached base safely in a team-best 27 straight games to begin the season March 29-April 30. He now owns the two longest on-base streaks for an OKC player so far this season and his current 18-game on-base streak is the third-longest active streak in the PCL...Since May 28, Sweeney paces the Minors with 42 total bases, while ranking tied for first with seven homers and 20 RBI...Sweeney has hit safely in 16 of the last 18 games, going 23-for-74 (.311) with eight home runs, three doubles, a triple, 23 RBI and 20 runs scored. He has three games with four or more RBI during the stretch and hit his first career grand slam June 6 in Game 2 of a doubleheader against Round Rock at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

Andre the Giant: Andre Lipcius drew a walk and picked up a RBI Sunday and now has nine RBI over his last four games. On Saturday, Lipcius hit a grand slam and finished with six RBI to tie his career-high mark last accomplished Aug. 22, 2023 with Triple-A Toledo at Louisville and tied for the most RBI in a single game for an OKC player this season, matching Hunter Feduccia and Ryan Ward. Lipcius' four hits Saturday night tied his season high, last achieved April 13 in Round Rock when he also went 4-for-5. Saturday night's grand slam was the first of his professional career and his 17th home run of the season, giving him sole possession of the PCL home run lead. He is also tied for the second-most homers in the Minors...He has now homered in two of his last three games and four of his last seven games, adding to his new career high. Lipcius hit his previous career-high of 13 homers over 117 games at three different levels last season..Lipcius leads the Minors with 146 total bases this season. He ranks third in the Minors with 76 hits and tied for second with 34 extra-base hits. He also leads the PCL with a .619 SLG and ranks second with a 1.013 OPS.

There's Some Hoes in This House: Kody Hoese notched a three-hit game Tuesday, going 3-for-5 with a double and two RBI. Hoese has hit safely in each of his first seven games of June, batting .393 (11x28) with five doubles, five RBI and six runs scored. He has also hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games, going 19-for-46 (.413) with six doubles, nine RBI and 10 runs scored...His current seven-game hitting streak is the longest active streak by an OKC player and one game shy of his season-best eight-game hitting streak April 23-May 2 (11x34).

Drew Up: Drew Avans tallied three hits last night, scored three runs, picked up two RBI and stole a base. Over his first eight games in June, Avans is 12-for-33 (.394) and he has hit safely in seven of his last nine games since May 31...Avans leads the PCL and is second overall in the Minors with 54 runs scored this season. He ranks second among OKC players and tied for fifth in the PCL with 70 hits so far this season, while his five triples lead OKC and are tied for third among PCL players and his 19 stolen bases also lead OKC and rank fourth in the PCL.

Fun Differential: Last night was OKC's ninth win of the season by nine or more runs. Although they are 4-3 against the Space Cowboys this season, they own a +29 run differential over the seven meetings...Overall this season, OKC's +106 run differential is best among all Triple-A teams and third-best overall in the Minors.

Around the Horn: Oklahoma City turned three more double plays Tuesday and has turned seven double plays over the last two games...Austin Gauthier reached base four times Tuesday with a single and three walks, while Ryan Ward reached base three times with a single and two walks...Hunter Feduccia singled last night and finished with two RBI. He is now 11-for-27 (.407) over his last seven games with five extra-base hits...OKC was held to one extra-base hit last night for a second straight game for the team's lowest two-game XBH hit total since May 22-23 when the team had one XBH over two games against Reno. Prior to Sunday, OKC had racked up 67 extra-base hits over the 14 games prior (4.8 per game).

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