Tulsa Falls to Wichita in 10 Innings Before Sellout Crowd
TL Tulsa Drillers

Tulsa Falls to Wichita in 10 Innings Before Sellout Crowd

Published on July 3, 2025 under Texas League (TL)
Tulsa Drillers News Release


Griffin Lockwood-Powell of the Tulsa Drillers
Griffin Lockwood-Powell of the Tulsa Drillers
(Tulsa Drillers, Credit: Tim Campbell)

Tulsa, OK - The Tulsa Drillers and Wichita Wind Surge went back and forth for nine innings on Thursday night before things unraveled for the Drillers in the tenth. The Wind Surge broke a tie game with six runs in their half of the tenth on only two hits and defeated the Drillers 10-6 at ONEOK Field.

The result tightened this year's Coors Light Propeller Series between the two teams. Tulsa now holds a slim 8-7 lead in the season series.

The Wind Surge scored the game's first run thanks to a defensive miscue from the Drillers. With runners at first and third and two outs in the top of the second inning, the runner on first, Nate Baez, successfully stole second base. Tulsa second baseman Yeiner Fernandez, came off the bag on the throw down and had the lead runner, Ricardo Olivar, trapped between third and home. Fernandez's off-balance throw to third was off target, allowing Olivar to jog home and give the Wind Surge a 1-0 lead.

A leadoff walk in the top of the fifth allowed Wichita to double the margin. Jose Salas walked on four straight pitches, stole second and scored on a single by Kaelen Culpepper.

The Drillers took their first lead with three runs of their own in the bottom of the fifth. Sean McLain drew a leadoff walk and moved to third on a base hit from Kole Myers. A wild pitch allowed McLain to score before a single by Yeiner Fernandez again put runners at the corners.

Kendall Simmons grounded to third for the second out of the inning, but Myers scored on the play and Fernandez moved to second. Griffin Lockwood-Powell delivered a two-out hit with a single into left that brought Fernandez home to give Tulsa a 3-2 lead.

The Wind Surge quickly responded when Kyler Fedko drew another leadoff walk to open the sixth. After stealing both second and third, Fedko scored on another defensive miscue from the Drillers. With one out, Ben Ross hit a fly ball into shallow right field. Right fielder Damon Keith and second baseman Fernandez arrived in plenty of time to make the catch, but it was Fernandez who did. Even though he made the catch, his momentum was carrying him away from home plate, allowing Fedko to tag and score the tying run.

Tulsa took its second lead in the bottom half of the sixth. Taylor Young worked a leadoff walk, stole second and scored on a ground ball to center by Sean McLain.

The back-and-forth nature of the game continued as Wichita again tied the score in the seventh. Jorel Ortega greeted reliever Jerming Rosario with a leadoff double. After moving to third on a ground out, Ortega raced home on a wild pitch from Rosario, tying the score at 4-4.

Neither team could score in the eighth or ninth innings, sending the game into extra innings.

Wichita put the game away in the top of the tenth with its six runs. Reliever Christian Suarez did not retire a batter, giving up two hits and three walks to the first five batters in the inning.

Jorge Benitez walked another batter and hit another. When the inning ended, the Wind Surge owned a 10-4 lead.

The Drillers attempted a comeback in the bottom of the inning, scoring two runs, but it was too little, too late.

INSIDE THE GAME

*Lockwood-Powell's two-hit game extended his on-base streak to 33 straight games. The 33-game streak is the longest in the Texas League this season and the second longest for a Tulsa player in at least the last 17 seasons. It was April 19 the last time that Griffin-Powell did not reach base safely in a game that he played.

*Tulsa reliever Ronan Kopp delivered another scoreless outing. Kopp worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning to extend his scoreless streak to 18.1 straight innings. The lefthander has not allowed a run in his last 14 games, dating to May 16.

*Jackson Ferris started on the mound for the Drillers and was charged with three runs on three hits in five innings. He was undone by five walks. It was a season high for walks for the lefthander who has now walked 12 batters in his last 14.2 innings.

*Tulsa pitchers gave up nine walks, and Wichita base runners stole eight bases in the game.

*The game drew a sellout crowd of 8,068. The three games at ONEOK Field this week against the Wind Surge drew a paid attendance total of nearly 19,000.

UP NEXT

The Drillers will continue their series with the Wind Surge, but the venue will change. The two teams will travel to Wichita to continue their six-game series with games scheduled for Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday afternoon.

First pitch for Friday's game at Wichita's Equity Bank Park is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. and the starting pitchers are expected to be:

Tulsa- RHP Chris Campos (5-3, 3.67 ERA)

Wichita- RHP C.J. Culpepper (0-0, 0.84 ERA)

Check out the Tulsa Drillers Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Images from this story

Griffin Lockwood-Powell of the Tulsa Drillers
Griffin Lockwood-Powell of the Tulsa Drillers
(Tim Campbell)		   



Texas League Stories from July 3, 2025


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central