n a tightly contested pitchers’ duel at Nelson W. Wolff Municipal Stadium on Wednesday night, the Frisco RoughRiders were edged 1-0 by the San Antonio Missions, who walked it off in the bottom of the ninth inning behind a clutch RBI single from Brandon Valenzuela.
Despite the loss, Frisco (36-28) received a career performance from left-hander Kohl Drake, who tossed seven scoreless innings, allowing just one hit, two walks, and striking out six. The outing marked Drake’s second quality start of the season — both coming at the Wolff — and extended his shutout streak in San Antonio to 13 innings across two starts.
But the bullpen couldn’t preserve the scoreless tie. After Anthony Vilar ripped a leadoff double off Aidan Anderson in the eighth, the right-hander wiggled out of trouble with a lineout and a pair of grounders to keep the Missions (37-28) off the board.
In the bottom of the ninth, Francisco Acuña was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Ripken Reyes. That set the stage for Valenzuela, whose groundball single skipped off shortstop Sebastian Walcott’s glove, allowing Acuña to race home and hand Frisco a gut-wrenching loss.
Gavin Collyer (4-3) was tagged with the loss after allowing the game-winning hit. Tyson Neighbors (1-0) picked up the win for San Antonio with a scoreless ninth.
Offensive Woes Continue
Frisco’s offense failed to solve Braden Nett, who delivered 5.2 scoreless innings for the Missions. The RoughRiders were held to just five hits on the night and struck out 19 times, setting a new franchise record for strikeouts in a nine-inning game.
South Division Shakeup
With the loss, Frisco and the Midland RockHounds now trail San Antonio by half a game in the Texas League South standings, with just four games remaining in the first half of the season.
Up Next
The series continues Thursday night at 7:05 p.m. CT as Frisco looks to bounce back. Josh Stephan (4-2, 5.44 ERA) will start for the RoughRiders, while Jared Kollar (0-1, 10.13 ERA) is slated to take the mound for the Missions.
Notables:
- Kohl Drake: 7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 6 K, 2 BB
- Frisco: 19 strikeouts, most in franchise history in a 9-inning game
- Valenzuela: walk-off RBI single, Missions improve to 37-28
Frisco will look to reset offensively and keep pace in a tight South Division race as the first-half finish line approaches.