The RockHounds had enough offense Friday night to win on a lot of nights, and for a while at Nelson Wolff Stadium it looked like that would be the whole story: traffic everywhere, pressure in nearly every inning and a five-run lead by the middle of the fifth.
Instead, Midland’s lead kept shrinking until it finally disappeared for good. San Antonio climbed out of a 6-1 hole, answered after the RockHounds briefly went back in front in the eighth, and beat Midland 8-7 on Braedon Karpathios’ two-run single in the bottom of the eighth.
It turned a 15-hit night for Midland into a missed chance. Ali Camarillo went 3-for-6 with a double and three RBIs, CJ Rodriguez went 4-for-5 with a double, an RBI and two runs, and Nate Nankil added three hits, a double, an RBI and a run. The RockHounds scored in four of the first five innings and again in the eighth.
The problem was that San Antonio kept finding its way back into the game after Corey Avant had it mostly under control early. Avant allowed four earned runs over 4.1 innings, with five strikeouts and two walks, but the damage against him began to gather in the fifth and carried through the bullpen.
Midland opened quickly. Jared Sprague-Lott tripled in the first and scored on Euribiel Angeles’ sacrifice fly. In the second, Casey Yamauchi was hit by a pitch, Cameron Leary walked and Rodriguez moved both runners along. Camarillo then drove a line drive into the left-field corner, bringing home both runners and pushing the lead to 3-0.
The RockHounds stretched it again in the fourth, when Rodriguez, Camarillo and Sprague-Lott all singled to load the bases. Nankil followed with a run-scoring single off Sadrac Franco, giving Midland a 4-0 lead.
San Antonio’s first answer came from Tirso Ornelas in the bottom of the fourth. After the Missions had gone without a hit through three innings, Ornelas sent a ball deep toward center field for his 16th home run, cutting the lead to 4-1 and giving the Missions their first real jolt.
Midland seemed to have restored order in the fifth. Yamauchi doubled, Rodriguez brought him in with a double to right, and Camarillo singled Rodriguez home. At 6-1, with the RockHounds piling up contact and San Antonio still trying to get fully into the game, the margin looked comfortable.
It was not.
Avant struck out Jack Costello to start the bottom of the fifth, but Luis Verdugo walked, Wyatt Hoffman singled and Brendan Durfee walked to load the bases. Stevie Emanuels entered and Karpathios immediately pulled San Antonio back into it, ripping a ball into center field for a two-run double. Albert Fabian popped out, but Ornelas added a run-scoring double to right, and a five-run Midland lead had been cut to 6-5.
That inning changed the shape of the night. What had been a RockHounds game built on constant pressure became a bullpen test, and San Antonio kept pressing. Kenya Huggins worked through the sixth after a Verdugo single, but Karpathios opened the seventh with a ground-rule double to left-center. After two outs moved him only as far as third, Romeo Sanabria sent a ground ball up the middle to tie the game.
Huggins was charged with the blown save and later took the loss after allowing three earned runs in 2.1 innings.
Midland still had one more response. In the eighth, Angeles singled but was thrown out at third on Nankil’s single to right. Nankil, though, stayed on the bases, and Brennan Milone drove a fly ball to right field that carried over Fabian’s shoulder and off his glove. Nankil scored from first, and the RockHounds had a 7-6 lead on Milone’s 18th double.
Even that did not hold. Huggins got the first out in the bottom of the eighth, then Verdugo singled and Hoffman singled. Will Johnston entered and walked Alex McCoy, loading the bases for Karpathios. The Missions center fielder bounced a single through the right side, scoring Verdugo and Hoffman and putting San Antonio ahead for the first time all night.
Johnston was charged with a blown save after entering in the eighth. Karpathios finished 3-for-5 with two doubles and four RBIs, the central figure in both San Antonio rallies.
Josh Mallitz, who allowed Milone’s go-ahead double in the eighth, came back out for the ninth and had to survive one last Midland push. Leary walked with one out and Rodriguez singled, bringing Camarillo to the plate with two on. But Camarillo popped out, Sprague-Lott grounded back to Mallitz, and the Missions closed a comeback that had taken nearly four innings to finish.