STWF Sports | FRISCO, Texas | June 16, 2026  — The Frisco RoughRiders spent most of Tuesday afternoon searching for a spark. When it finally arrived, it came with the drama of a postseason preview.

After being held scoreless through eight innings and trailing by two entering the bottom of the ninth, Frisco stormed back to defeat the Arkansas Travelers 7-6 in 12 innings at Riders Field. Orlando Martinez delivered the game-winning swing, sending a walk-off single up the middle to complete a wild comeback in the opener of a seven-game series.

The win moved the RoughRiders to 35-27 and dropped their magic number to clinch a playoff spot to three with six games remaining in the first half. Arkansas, the Double-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, fell to 39-24.

For much of the afternoon, the game belonged to the starting pitchers. Frisco right-hander Aidan Curry turned in his best Double-A outing, setting a career high with 6.1 innings while allowing only two runs. He struck out eight, the most he has recorded through his first four starts with the RoughRiders, and gave Frisco every chance to stay within striking distance.

Arkansas finally broke through in the sixth inning, scoring the game’s first run on a wild pitch by Curry. The Travelers later added another run, and the 2-0 lead held into the ninth as Frisco’s offense continued to battle for timely contact.

Then Rafe Perich changed the game.

Down to their final two outs, the RoughRiders got the swing they needed when Perich launched a game-tying two-run home run. The blast was his 16th homer of the season and instantly flipped the energy at Riders Field, sending the game to extra innings and giving Frisco new life.

From there, the game turned into a back-and-forth fight. Both teams scored twice in the 10th inning, with Frisco answering Arkansas behind a clutch two-run single from Marcus Lee Sang. The hit extended Lee Sang’s Texas League-leading hitting streak to 10 games and kept the RoughRiders alive in a game that looked nearly gone just one inning earlier.

The teams matched each other again in the 11th. Arkansas pushed across a run, but Frisco responded when Perich came through again, this time with an RBI single to tie the game. Perich’s late-game production gave the RoughRiders exactly what they needed in pressure spots, continuing his strong early impression since joining the club.

Arkansas regained the lead in the top of the 12th with an unearned run against Janser Lara, but the RoughRiders refused to go away. Dylan Dreiling stepped in and delivered the tying hit, driving in Corey Joyce to make it 6-6 against Brock Moore. Moments later, Martinez finished the afternoon with a base hit through the middle, setting off the celebration and sealing one of Frisco’s most resilient wins of the season.

Lara earned the win, improving to 2-0, while Moore took the loss for Arkansas and fell to 1-2.

The game also marked a rare stretch of marathon baseball for the RoughRiders. Since the implementation of the extra-innings runner rule, Frisco has played only four games that reached the 12th inning. Two of those have now come in consecutive contests, after the Riders lost in 12 innings to San Antonio on Sunday. It is the first time in franchise history that Frisco has played back-to-back games of 12 or more innings.

Martinez’s walk-off added to his own hot stretch, extending his hitting streak to nine games. Lee Sang’s 10-game streak remains the longest active mark in the Texas League.

Frisco’s pitching staff also delivered one of its most dominant strikeout performances of the year. RoughRiders arms combined for a season-high 17 strikeouts, marking just the 11th game in franchise history in which the club has reached 17 or more strikeouts.

The RoughRiders will look to build on the comeback Wednesday when they continue the series against Arkansas with a doubleheader at Riders Field, making up a previous rainout from May. Game one is scheduled for 5:05 p.m., with left-hander Blake Townsend set to start for Frisco against right-hander Ryan Hawks. Neither team has announced an official starter for the second game.