The doubles kept coming before Midland could get the night back under control, each one changing the look of a game that had started to tilt hard toward the RockHounds.
Frisco trailed by one run after two innings Sunday at Riders Field, then spent the next three half-innings turning the game around with line drives into the gaps and down the lines. Max Wagner, Ian Moller, Dylan Dreiling and Julian Brock all doubled in runs as the RoughRiders built just enough of a cushion to survive a nervous ninth and beat Midland 8-7, splitting the series.
The first hole was real. Cole Conn, who finished 3-for-5 with a homer and two RBIs, lifted a two-run shot to left in the first inning after Leo De Vries’ double. An inning later, two walks against Dylan MacLean set up Luke Mann’s sharp single to center, bringing in Clark Elliott and giving Midland a 3-0 lead.
Frisco’s answer did not come all at once. It came in the second, after Julian Brock and Ian Moller opened the inning with singles and back-to-back outs left them stranded in scoring position. Wagner got the RoughRiders on the board by lining a double down the left-field line, hard enough to bring in both runners and cut the deficit to 3-2.
The next inning gave Frisco the lead. Rafe Perich singled, Dylan Dreiling walked, and after Arturo Disla moved both runners over, Moller drove a sharp line drive to center. Perich and Dreiling scored, and a three-run deficit had become a 4-3 RoughRiders advantage.
That middle stretch became the game. Frisco scored two in the second, two in the third and four in the fourth, all against Kenya Huggins except for the final swing of the surge. Huggins took the loss after allowing eight earned runs in 3.2 innings.
The fourth was the separator. Corey Joyce opened it with a single and moved to third on a passed ball as Wagner struck out. With two outs, Perich walked, and Dreiling pulled a run-scoring double down the right-field line to make it 5-3. Arturo Disla walked, forcing Midland to bring in Micah Dallas.
Brock greeted him with the biggest swing of Frisco’s night, driving a ball to center that carried to the wall and kicked away from Cameron Leary. Perich, Dreiling and Disla all scored, Brock stopped at second, and the RoughRiders suddenly had an 8-3 lead.
Brock finished 2-for-5 with a double and three RBIs. Moller went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Perich, in the middle of much of the damage, went 3-for-4 with a double, a walk and two runs.
The offense was loud enough to cover for a start that required MacLean to settle in after the first two innings. He allowed four earned runs over five innings, with four strikeouts and three walks, and improved to 6-1. After Midland’s early three, MacLean held the RockHounds off the board in the third and fourth before Devin Taylor homered to right-center in the fifth.
The late innings turned what had looked like a comfortable win into something tighter. Joey Danielson allowed a run in the seventh when Elliott was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, trimming Frisco’s lead to 8-5. Dustin Saenz worked around two hits in a scoreless eighth, then got the first two outs in the ninth before the RockHounds made one last push.
Davis Diaz singled, Elliott was hit by a pitch, Bobby Boser flied out, and Mann walked to load the bases. Leary then lined a single into right field, scoring Diaz and Elliott and cutting the lead to one. With runners at first and second, Jonathan Brand entered for Saenz and struck out Brennan Milone to end it, recording his second save.
The finish fit the feel of the homestand better than the box score alone could. A night earlier, Cole Stasio had thrown in front of a July 4 crowd he described as something bigger than a normal minor league night.
“Yeah, it was electric. It was awesome to see how the staff put it on and brought all the people in.”
— Cole Stasio, RoughRiders Pitcher
The electricity Sunday came later, and with more stress attached. Frisco had to climb out early, double by double, and then hold the last inch of the lead it had built.