Tulsa Gets Sixth Victory of Long Road Trip with Win in Corpus Christi
Published on August 8, 2025 under Texas League (TL)
Tulsa Drillers News Release
Tulsa Drillers' Sean McLain on game night
(Tulsa Drillers, Credit: Kyra Blundell)
Corpus Christi, TX - The Tulsa Drillers guaranteed themselves no worse than a .500 record on their long, two-week road trip to Texas with a win at Corpus Christi on Friday night. The Drillers jumped out to a six-run lead against the Hooks and eventually recorded a 9-6 victory at Whataburger Field.
The victory evened the series with Hooks at two wins for each team, and it improved Tulsa's record on their long road trip to 6-4 with two games remaining. The Drillers have had just one winning road trip this season.
After being held to only one run in the previous night's loss, the Drillers' bats got going early on Friday. Chris Newell opened the scoring when he led off the second inning with his 13th home run of the season.
After Newell's blast, the Drillers loaded the bases later in the second with a walk, a base hit and another walk. Sean McLain picked up an RBI when he also walked to force in a run. Zach Ehrhard followed with a sacrifice fly that upped the lead to 3-0.
Newell helped Tulsa add its fourth run in the top of the third. He walked, stole second base and scored on a base hit from Taylor Young.
Two more runs in the fifth increased the lead to 6-0. The Drillers loaded the bases when Newell walked and Yeiner Fernandez and Kole Myers followed with singles. Newell scored on a ground out from Young, and Fernandez came home on a ground out from John Rhodes.
Handed a six-run lead, Tulsa starting pitcher Patrick Copen seemed set up to collect his first-ever Double-A win. Copen blanked the Hooks through the first four innings, allowing just three singles, but things changed in the bottom of the fifth.
The inning began with a leadoff single before Copen issued his first walk of the game with one out. A balk and a base hit produced the first run for the Hooks. A ground out brought home a second run before Tommy Sacco Jr. doubled home another to cut Tulsa's lead to 6-3. It also ended Copen's night, one out short of qualifying for the win.
Jeisson Cabrera needed just four pitches to get a fly out that ended the fifth inning, but he would run into his own troubles in the sixth. Zach Cole led off with a single and advanced all the way to third on a ground out to third. Following a sacrifice fly that trimmed the Drillers lead to 6-4, Cabrera issued consecutive walks.
Tulsa manager Eric Wedge called on Carson Hobbs from the bullpen, and he got an inning-ending strikeout to limit the damage.
The Drillers got two of the runs back in the top of the eighth inning when Ehrhard, a former Oklahoma State Cowboy, and Kyle Nevin hit a pair of solo home runs. It was the first home run since joining the Drillers for both.
In the ninth, Myers singled, swiped second base and scored on a single by McLain, accounting for the ninth and final run of the Drillers.
The Hooks made things uncomfortable for Tulsa in the bottom of the ninth inning, scoring a pair of runs against Antonio Knowles. Knowles was tasked with getting the final three outs in an unusual non-save situation, and he surrendered a pair of runs on a walk and two hits before getting the game's final out.
INSIDE THE GAME
*Newell's first-inning homer extended his hitting streak to 9 straight games and his on-base streak to 22 straight games. It is the second time this year that he has had a nine-game hitting streak, matching the second longest this season by a Tulsa batter. Newell has also had a separate 8-game hitting streak this year.
*It was a disappointing night for Copen who failed to collect the victory despite being handed a six-run lead. His final line was 4.2 innings pitched with three runs allowed on six hits and one walk. Copen struck out six. He was undone by a common issue for Tulsa pitchers this season - a struggle to throw strikes. Copen threw a total of 79 pitches, but just 48 were strikes.
*Young finished with two hits and stole his team-leading 29th base of the season. He has hit safely in 10 of his last 13 games.
*Hobbs was effective in his relief stint. He recorded four outs, allowing just one hit while striking out two. He was credited with his second win with the Drillers, and he has yet to allow a run in five games since his promotion from High-A Great Lakes.
*The two runs against Knowles in the bottom of the ninth inning ended his 12-game scoreless streak. He had last surrendered a run on June 26. He entered the game with a 0.59 ERA in the second-half the season.
*Tulsa finished with 13 hits in the victory. Myers led the way with three hits, his 16th multi-hit game with the Drillers and his fourth three-hit game. He has hit safely in eight of his last nine games, hitting for a .417 in the stretch.
*The Drillers hit three homers for the second time in the series.
*With the win, Tulsa moved three games back over .500 and into sole possession of second place in the Texas League's North Division with a 20-17 second-half record.
UP NEXT
The Drillers and Hooks will play the fifth game of their six-game series on Saturday night at Whataburger Field. First pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m. and the starting pitchers are expected to be:
Tulsa - RHP Roque Gutierrez (1-1, 5.70 ERA)
Corpus Christi - LHP Trey Dombroski (6-4, 3.72 ERA)
Images from this story
 Tulsa Drillers' Sean McLain on game night (Kyra Blundell) |
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