The Sundown Roughnecks hosted the Tahoka Bulldogs for a district baseball matchup this past Tuesday night, resulting in a dominant 14-3 win for the Roughnecks across five innings.
The Roughnecks took an 8-1 lead in the second inning, then Tahoka added two runs in the top of the third before Sundown would respond with six unanswered runs to close the game.
Tahoka bested Sundown 2-3 in errors and 5-4 in walks, but the Roughnecks killed them in the hits column, 13-4, which would be the difference maker in the win.
Standouts at the plate included left fielder Gordon Mata going ¾ with three stolen bases, two runs-batted- in, two runs scored and a double, shortstop Ryland Baldwin going 2/3 with three runs scored, two RBI’s and a double, first baseman Jaxon Reynolds going 2/4 with two RBI’s and a double, Rian Rose going 2/3 with two RBI’s, two doubles and a run scored, second baseman Andrew Rodriguez going 1/1 with two walks, an RBI, a stolen base and a run scored, and catcher Joey Lopez going ½ with a triple, an RBI, a walk and a stolen base.
Rose pitched the full five innings, holding Tahoka to one earned run and four hits while striking out four batters.
“I thought we competed well at the plate. Everyone in the lineup found a way to contribute to help the team succeed,” Sundown Head Baseball Coach Matthew Schovajsa said. “Defensively, Rian (Rose) did a great job setting the tone on the mound, and we did a good job of limiting our mistakes and forcing them to earn every run.”
The win improves the Roughnecks to 5-5 overall and 1-0 in district play. They’ll return to action over the weekend against Tahoka once again before heading to play at Morton on Tuesday at 11 a.m.