Tulsa had already climbed out of two two-run holes, survived six innings without adding to its lead and moved within three outs of making all of it hold up. What remained Sunday night at ONEOK Field was supposed to be the finish.
Instead, the Drillers’ bullpen let the game come apart. Lucas Wepf’s wild pitch brought home the tying run in the ninth, and Wichita broke through for six runs in the 10th to beat Tulsa 13-7.
The collapse erased the Drillers’ best burst of offense, a seven-run response packed entirely into the third and fourth innings. Tulsa led 7-5 after four and carried a 7-6 advantage into the ninth, but it never scored again.
Wepf entered with the one-run lead and allowed singles to Marek Houston and Caden Kendle before walking Khadim Diaw to load the bases. During Brandon Winokur’s plate appearance, a pitch skipped past catcher Griffin Lockwood-Powell and Houston came home.
Wepf recovered to strike out Winokur and Kyle DeBarge and nearly escaped with the lead intact, with shortstop Elijah Hainline throwing out Kendle at the plate between those strikeouts. The wild pitch still left Wepf with one earned run in his inning and his sixth blown save.
Tulsa went quietly in the bottom of the ninth, sending the game to extras. Cam Day struck out Luis Hernandez to begin the 10th, but walked Graham Brown before Danny De Andrade drove a ground ball up the middle. It rolled into center field as DeBarge and Brown scored, giving Wichita a 9-7 lead.
That was the opening the Wind Surge needed. Houston walked, and Kendle followed with another ground-ball single through the middle to bring home De Andrade. Day was removed after recording one out and allowing four earned runs.
Christian Suarez could not stop the inning. Diaw doubled to right, Winokur brought in a run on a groundout and Andrew Cossetti lined another RBI double to right, stretching the lead to six. Tulsa put two aboard in the bottom half but ended the game on a double play.
The finish was jarring because of how forcefully the Drillers had answered Wichita earlier.
Tulsa trailed 2-0 in the third when an error, a hit batter and a walk loaded the bases. Kole Myers’ groundout brought in Jose Izarra, and Jake Gelof followed by shooting a sharp liner into left field. Taylor Young scored easily, pulling Tulsa even before it took a 3-2 lead later in the inning.
Wichita answered with three runs against Roque Gutierrez in the fourth, only for its defense to help Tulsa turn the game again. Hainline reached on an error and Joe Vetrano singled before Young chopped a ball down the third-base line. De Andrade fielded it, but his throw sailed away, allowing both runners to score and Young to reach second.
De Paula followed with a grounder that slipped through the left side. Young rounded third and scored when DeBarge bobbled the ball in left, putting Tulsa ahead 6-5. Lockwood-Powell’s sacrifice fly made it 7-5.
Those were the Drillers’ final runs. Chris Vallimont held them scoreless for four innings, and Wichita’s bullpen covered the final two.
Brown tightened the game in the sixth, driving an Alex Walsh pitch over the wall in right-center for his fourth home run. He reached four times, finishing 2-for-3 with two walks and two RBIs. De Andrade went 4-for-5, with his final hit delivering the go-ahead pair.
Tulsa received two scoreless innings and three strikeouts from starter Luke Fox, while Jacob Kmatz struck out four over two scoreless frames. Hainline had two of the Drillers’ 10 hits, and De Paula finished 2-for-5 with a walk and a run.
Wichita committed five errors and still outhit Tulsa 17-10. By the time the last of those hits landed, the Drillers’ early comeback had been buried beneath a six-run 10th.