STWF Sports | CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas | July 10, 2026 — The Frisco RoughRiders will look to continue their late-inning dominance Friday when they face the Corpus Christi Hooks at 7:05 p.m. in the fourth game of a six-game series at Whataburger Field.
Right-hander Ben Anderson is scheduled to start for Frisco against Corpus Christi right-hander James Hicks. Anderson enters the matchup with an 0-2 record and a 5.40 ERA, while Hicks is 3-8 with a 5.84 ERA.
Frisco has captured the first three games of the series and enters Friday at 9-6 in the second half and 48-35 overall. Corpus Christi has fallen to 7-8 in the half and 39-45 on the season.
The RoughRiders extended their winning streak to four games Thursday with a 5-2 victory, once again using the eighth inning to break open a tight contest. For the third consecutive night, Frisco scored the decisive runs in the eighth.
The Strength of the Frisco RoughRiders’ Late-Inning Play
Corpus Christi struck first when Will Bush hit a solo home run against Dalton Pence in the opening inning. Pence responded with a dominant performance, limiting the Hooks to one run over 5.1 innings while matching his career high with 10 strikeouts.
Frisco took a 2-1 lead in the second behind consecutive RBI singles from Max Wagner and Marcus Lee Sang. Yamal Encarnacion tied the game with a seventh-inning homer before Wagner delivered the defining swing one inning later.
Wagner launched a go-ahead two-run home run in the eighth, giving Frisco a 4-2 advantage. Dylan Dreiling later scored on a wild pitch in the ninth to complete the scoring.
The home run continued Wagner’s remarkable success at Whataburger Field. He has hit six homers in six games in Corpus Christi this season, the most by any visiting player at the ballpark in 2026. Only Hooks outfielder Trevor Austin has hit more at the venue this year.
Wagner is also the first visiting player to hit six home runs in a season at Whataburger Field since Midland’s Kent Matthes accomplished the feat in 2014. No visiting player has ever reached seven in a single season at the stadium, giving Wagner an opportunity to establish a new mark before the series concludes.
Frisco’s late-inning offense has become one of the team’s defining strengths. The RoughRiders lead Double-A with 180 runs in the seventh inning or later and have scored in the eighth inning of all three games during the current series.
Their 11 eighth-inning runs this week are tied for the most in Minor League Baseball, while their four home runs in the inning lead the minors.
Rafe Perich has also remained central to the offense. The infielder has eight home runs in his first 33 games with Frisco, with six either tying the score or giving the RoughRiders the lead. Frisco is 8-0 when Perich homers.
Perich is batting .467 in July with a .556 on-base percentage and an .833 slugging percentage. Since May 31, he ranks among the Texas League leaders in batting average, extra-base hits, doubles, runs and OPS.
The RoughRiders have also received exceptional production from their pitching staff. Frisco has registered 118 strikeouts over its past nine games, the highest total in Minor League Baseball during that span.
Aidan Curry recorded 12 strikeouts in Tuesday’s opener, and Pence added 10 Thursday. The staff has averaged more than 13 strikeouts per game during the nine-game run.
Frisco enters Friday with a 9-3 record at Whataburger Field this season. The offense has hit 20 home runs and averaged 6.3 runs across 12 games in Corpus Christi.
The RoughRiders’ 110 home runs through 83 games are already a franchise record. They also rank among Double-A’s leaders in hits, doubles, slugging percentage and OPS.
With a postseason berth already secured after winning the Texas League South Division first-half title, Frisco will look to maintain its momentum and clinch at least a series split behind Anderson on Friday night.
