STWF Sports| FRISCO, Texas| September 17, 2026 — The Frisco RoughRiders return to Riders Field on Thursday night with a chance to finish the job.
Frisco leads the Amarillo Sod Poodles 1-0 in the best-of-three Texas League South Division Series and can advance to the Texas League Championship Series with a victory in Game 2. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. CT.
Right-hander Cole Stasio is set to start for the RoughRiders. He finished the regular season 1-2 with a 5.11 ERA. Amarillo will counter with right-hander David Hagaman, who went 2-2 with a 2.55 ERA.
Frisco seized control of the series with an 8-7, 10-inning victory in Game 1 at HODGETOWN. The RoughRiders jumped ahead early behind home runs from Gleider Figuereo and Paxton Kling, then survived a furious Amarillo rally before scoring the decisive run on a wild pitch in the 10th.
Kling was one of the offensive standouts, finishing with three hits after homering in his first postseason plate appearance. Marcus Lee Sang added a two-run double in the eighth, while Rafe Perich followed with an RBI single to give Frisco a 7-3 lead.
Amarillo erased that cushion with four runs over the final two innings, but Josh Trentadue and Jonathan Brand escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth to force extras. Brand then worked the 10th and finished the win.
Frisco now enters Game 2 with history on its side. The RoughRiders are 7-1 in postseason series when winning the opener, with the lone exception coming in the 2014 Division Series against Midland.
The postseason appearance is Frisco’s 11th in franchise history and its first since 2024. The RoughRiders secured their berth by winning the Texas League South Division first-half title with a 39-29 record. The franchise has won two league championships, in 2004 and 2022.
The matchup with Amarillo remains closely contested despite Frisco’s series advantage.
The clubs split 18 regular-season meetings at 9-9. Those games featured plenty of offense, with the teams combining for 75 home runs. Frisco held a slight edge in run production, outscoring Amarillo 140-135 while hitting 41 home runs to the Sod Poodles’ 34.
Lee Sang was especially productive in the regular-season series, batting .450 with a .515 on-base percentage and a 1.198 OPS in 15 games against Amarillo. Dylan Dreiling and Max Wagner each hit four home runs in the matchup.
Dreiling enters the postseason after one of the strongest offensive seasons in the Texas League. He finished second in batting average at .312, ranked fifth in OPS at .896 and totaled 22 home runs, 84 RBIs and 148 hits.
The Rising Stars of the Frisco RoughRiders
Frisco’s offense as a whole was one of the most productive in Double-A. The RoughRiders finished first in hits and batting average while ranking second in runs. They also set franchise records in runs scored and home runs.
Pitching remains an area to watch. Frisco’s bullpen carried a heavy workload late in the season, and the staff again needed multiple relievers to secure Game 1.
The stakes Thursday are simple: win and advance.
With the series shifting home and a championship-series berth within reach, the RoughRiders will look to build on their dramatic opening victory and avoid giving Amarillo life in a decisive Game 3.
