Sundown Roughneck baseball would open district play this past week with a home-andhome series against the Tahoka Bulldogs, splitting the series.
The Roughnecks would travel to Bulldog territory last Saturday where they would take the win, 10-7.
Following the win, the Roughnecks would play host to the Bulldogs, but drop the second game, 11-7.
In the Saturday matchup, Roughneck Hayden Powell would get the first Sundown run after a double.
The Bulldogs would respond by stringing together singles for a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the inning. The Roughnecks would respond with two additional runs scored in the top of the second inning.
Trailing 4-3, Roughneck Rayden Flores would get Sundown the lead in the third inning after a double to center field scoring a run followed by a single down the left field line by Landry Farrar scoring an additional run.
A Sundown run would cross the plate in the top of the fourth, however, the Bulldogs would find their offensive stride adding three runs in the bottom of the inning to retake the lead, 7-6.
A four-run sixth inning secured the win for the Roughnecks opening district on the road.
Rian Rose started on the hill for Sundown. The right-handed pitcher gave up five hits and seven runs (six earned) over four innings, striking out eight and walking five.
Isaac Lopez tossed three innings of no-run ball for the Roughnecks in relief. The pitcher surrendered one hit, striking out five and walking one.
Sundown Varsity Roughnecks accumulated 16 hits in the game. Farrar, Powell, Rose, Flores, Lopez, Marcus Solis, and Ollen Pearson each collected two hits.
Farrar, Braiden Lara, Powell, Rose, Flores, and Lopez each drove in one run. Lopez and Solis each stole multiple bases while the Roughnecks collected five stolen bases for the game.
The Roughneck bats scored first after Rian Rose singled, scoring one in the bottom of the first.
A single down the right field line in the top of the third helped Tahoka tie the game at one apiece.
The Bulldogs would take control of the game in the top of the fourth, scoring five runs on four hits to take the lead, 6-1.
Sundown would find some momentum at the plate, scoring two runs in the bottom of the fourth to cut down the deficit, 6-3. A three-run top of the third for Tahoka would extend their lead to 9-3. Four runs would cross the plate in the bottom inning to limit the Bulldogs to a 9-7 seven inning. Despite their efforts, Sundown would allow two more Bulldog runs to score and be held to zero runs through the remainder of the game.
Flores began the game for the Roughnecks. The starter gave up five hits and five runs over three and one-third innings, striking out two and walking six.
Stats were provided by GameChanger.