Pena Walks off Naturals in Extra Innings
TL Amarillo Sod Poodles

Pena Walks off Naturals in Extra Innings

Published on May 20, 2026 under Texas League (TL)
Amarillo Sod Poodles News Release


AMARILLO, TX -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (21-18) defeated the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (19-20), 4-3, in 11 innings on Tuesday night at HODGETOWN. Following a dominant start from the Amarillo starter, the Soddies take the series opener in walk-off fashion.

It was all Sod Poodles in the opening frame this evening as Josh Grosz posted a three-up, three-down inning on just eight pitches while picking up a strikeout of Rudy Martin Jr. to keep the visitors at bay.

The Amarillo bats got straight to work in the home half after Cristofer Torin doubled into the left-center gap, setting the table for Manuel Pena. The Texas League home run leader added another long ball to his season total as his 16th blast of the year cleared the right field fence for a two-run shot to give the Soddies the early advantage in the first.

Grosz continued to deal on the HODGETOWN hill, facing the minimum through three innings with Connor Scott being the lone Natural to reach base, doing so via walk. He found himself struggling to command the zone in the fourth however as he issued back-to-back one out walks, but he escaped the jam to keep the Northwest Arkansas run total at zero.

The East Carolina University alum stepped out of the dugout once more in the sixth to take his spot on the mound, but two walks by Grosz gave way to a game-tying three-run home run off the bat of MLB veteran Jorge Alfaro, breaking up his no-hit bid. With two outs and Indigo Diaz having taken over out of the bullpen later in the frame, a line drive to right field had Gavin Conticello sprinting to his left to make a spectacular diving grab to strand the bases loaded and keep the game tied at three.

A one-out single and a steal of second from Druw Jones in the bottom of the seventh gave the Soddies a chance to break the deadlock, but the next two Amarillo sticks were retired. Once again in the eighth, the Soddies put a man in scoring position with Torin narrowly missing a home run and instead turning in a two-out triple off the left field ribbon, but Zachary Cawyer was able to record a punchout of Pena, sending the game to ninth still tied.

Casey Anderson and Landon Sims combined for three perfect frames from the eighth through 10th innings, sending the game to the 11th. With the zombie runner aboard for the Naturals, Jones hosed Daniel Vazquez at third after for a double play on a Spencer Nivens' flyout.

A harmless flyout by Colton Becker ended the top of the eleventh, setting up the Soddies with a great chance to walk it off. Junior Franco beat out the throw to third on a Jansel Luis sacrifice bunt, leading the Naturals to intentionally walk the bases loaded before facing Pena. He launched the game-winning single to deep left field to give Amarillo a 4-3 victory.

POSTGAME NOTES

HOUSE OF PENA: Slugging his 16th home run of the year tonight was Manuel Pena ...his first inning two-run blast was his seventh career home run against the Naturals which now ranks second among Texas League batters since the start of 2025 (Ricardo Olivar, WCH, 8 HR) in games against Northwest Arkansas.

GRAN TORIN-O: Checking in with a two-hit game that featured a double and a triple was Cristofer Torin ...it was his first multi-hit game this season that featured multiple extra-base hits...he has nine multi-hit performances this season.

Check out the Amarillo Sod Poodles Statistics

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Texas League Stories from May 20, 2026


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