Ismael Agreda’s Double-A debut came with premium velocity and an early warning, a towering drive by Caden Kendle that sent Dylan Dreiling retreating toward the center-field wall. Two innings later, Kendle delivered the swing that turned a brief Frisco lead into a deficit the RoughRiders never dented.
Kendle homered twice and drove in four runs as Wichita handed Frisco an 8-2 loss Tuesday at Equity Bank Park. Agreda allowed seven earned runs over three innings, taking the loss after Wichita scored three runs in both the third and fourth.
The RoughRiders’ answer belonged almost entirely to Sebastian Walcott. He collected three of their nine hits, and his two-run homer in the third accounted for all of Frisco’s scoring.
Marcus Lee Sang opened that inning with a sharp single before Luke Hanson popped out. Walcott then lifted Cory Lewis’ knuckleball deep toward left. Graham Brown retreated to the warning track and the wall, but the ball carried beyond his reach for Walcott’s ninth homer, giving Frisco a 2-1 lead.
It was a sharp turn after Kendle’s first homer, a 447-foot solo shot to center in the opening inning. Walcott’s drive offered Frisco a counterpunch. The advantage lasted only until Agreda returned to the mound.
Marek Houston walked to begin the bottom of the third, and Khadim Diaw was hit by a pitch. Kendle followed with a high fly down the left-field line, admiring it out of the box as it cleared the wall, bounced off the concourse and left the ballpark. The 421-foot shot, his second homer of the night, put Wichita back in front 4-2 before Agreda had recorded an out in the inning.
Agreda kept the damage there in the third, striking out Andrew Cossetti and picking Garrett Spain off first. But Wichita resumed its attack immediately in the fourth.
Kyle DeBarge singled and scored when Wichita put DeBarge in motion and Jaime Ferrer shot a ground ball through the right side. DeBarge raced home from first and slid in ahead of the relay. Brown followed with a double, ending Agreda’s night with two runners in scoring position and none out.
Zach Bryant entered and allowed Houston’s two-run single, with both runs charged to Agreda. That completed a line of seven earned runs, two walks and two strikeouts for the right-hander in his first Double-A appearance.
Bryant stopped the game from getting farther away. He struck out Kendle and Brandon Winokur to end the fourth, then worked three scoreless innings without issuing a walk. His outing gave Frisco’s offense time to make a push, but its best chance vanished in the fifth.
Walcott and Dreiling singled with one out, and walks to Gleider Figuereo and Rafe Perich loaded the bases. Arturo Disla grounded out to end the threat. It was the clearest example of the RoughRiders’ trouble converting traffic into runs: Frisco finished 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and went scoreless in every inning other than the third.
Sam Armstrong took over for Wichita in the sixth and closed the game with four scoreless innings and five strikeouts, earning his first save. Frisco put two runners aboard against him in the eighth, but Max Wagner grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Wichita added its final run against J’Briell Easley in the bottom of the eighth, when Brown singled home DeBarge before being thrown out trying to advance to second. Easley allowed one earned run over two innings.
Walcott struck out to end it, closing his 3-for-5 night and Frisco’s last chance. His homer had briefly changed the direction of the game. Kendle’s second one changed it back—and left Agreda’s debut buried beneath a six-run Wichita surge.