June 21, 2008

FRISCO, Texas – Elvis Andrus walked with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 13th inning to give the RoughRiders an 8-7 win over the Hooks Friday night at Dr Pepper Ballpark in Frisco.

Third baseman Adam Fox opened the home 13th with a single to left off Ryan McKeller, who started the inning in relief of Sammy Gervacio. Thomas Berkery sacrificed Fox to second, prompting McKeller to issue an intentional walk to pinch hitter Emerson Frostad. McKeller then struck out Corey Ragsdale on three pitches for the second out.

With Craig Gentry at the plate, Fox stole third. On the next pitch, Frostad moved to second on defensive indifference. Gentry eventually walked, loading the bases for Andrus. McKeller fell behind in the count 3-1, but threw a strike to get to a full count. Andrus fouled off the 3-2 offering, but took the next pitch low to draw the walk, forcing in Fox with the game-winning run.

The Hooks fought back from deficits of 4-0 and 7-4 to push the game into extra innings.

Down 4-0 after the first inning, the Hooks got on the board in the second on a double by Rob Cosby and an RBI single from Richie Paz. In the third, Cosby’s run-scoring single and a two-run single to left by Eli Iorg pulled the Hooks level at 4-4.

Trailing 7-4 after four innings, the Hooks again clawed back into contention. Lou Santangelo walked to open the sixth and went to third when Wladimir Sutil’s bunt up the first-base line resulted in two errors charged to Berkery, Frisco’s first baseman. Sutil ended up at second. Drew Sutton’s sacrifice fly to right and Chris Johnson’s ground ball out to second brought Santangelo and Sutil home to make it 7-6.

Corpus Christi knotted the score at 7-7 in the eighth on Johnson’s two-out, RBI single to right-center, plating Sutton from second. Sutton had singled with two out and advanced to second on a wild pitch by reliever Andrew Laughter.

Brandon Puffer (6-0) earned the victory with four innings of shutout relief. Puffer allowed just two singles while striking out five.

McKeller (2-3) suffered the loss, giving up a hit and three walks in his two-thirds of an inning. Prior to McKeller’s entry in the game, Corpus Christi’s relief trio of Sean Walker, Chris Blazek and Gervacio combined to limit the RoughRiders to a run on six hits over nine innings.

Johnson received stitches near his chin to close a wound he suffered in the bottom of the 12th on a hot-smash, bad-hop grounder off the bat of Ben Harrison. Cosby moved from first to third to take Johnson’s spot on defense, while Ole Sheldon was inserted into the lineup to play at first.

Frisco designated hitter Max Ramirez was lifted in the fourth inning for pinch hitter Dustin Majewski, who delivered an RBI single to give Frisco a 7-4 lead. Ramirez was pulled after the RoughRiders learned that Ramirez had been called up to the big leagues by the Rangers, who played a 14-inning game Friday night in Washington, D.C. Ramirez powered a three-run homer to the berm in center to give Frisco a 3-0 edge in the first.

Also during Friday’s game the Hooks learned that Paz had been added to the South Division roster for next Wednesday’s Texas League All-Star Game in Springfield. Paz was added to the squad after Midland infielder Jesus Guzman received a promotion to Oakland’s Triple-A affiliate in Sacramento, California.

Southpaw Polin Trinidad (1-1) takes the hill for the Hooks in Saturday night’s 7:05 start. He’ll be opposed by Frisco’s Tommy Hunter (2-2).

-Matt Hicks