Paxton Kling’s Double-A debut came with an early test, a quick answer and, by the fifth inning, the swing that gave the Frisco RoughRiders room to breathe. Kling drove in three runs with two hits, helping Frisco build a five-run lead before Austin Roberts secured the final four outs of a 7-5 victory over the Wichita Wind Surge on Wednesday at Equity Bank Park.
Kling finished 2-for-4 with a double and three RBIs. His first Double-A hit erased Wichita’s early lead in the fourth, when he drove a sharp line ball to center and brought Yeison Morrobel home from first. Ian Moller followed with a line-drive single to center, scoring Kling and putting Frisco ahead 2-1.
The lead lasted until the bottom of the inning. Graham Brown opened the bottom of the inning by launching a hanging curveball from Ben Anderson 425 feet to left-center, pulling Wichita even.
Frisco responded with the game’s defining rally, all after Darren Bowen retired the first two batters in the fifth. Rafe Perich was hit by a pitch, Gleider Figuereo singled and Arturo Disla sent a ground-ball single through the middle to restore the lead. Morrobel followed with another single, putting two aboard for Kling.
This one carried less thunder than his double, but more damage. Kling dropped a soft liner into left field, scoring Disla and Morrobel as the RoughRiders stretched the lead to 6-2. Bowen was removed after allowing four earned runs in two-thirds of an inning.
Morrobel went 2-for-3 with a walk and scored twice, repeatedly putting himself in the middle of Frisco’s best innings. Perich reached on a hit, a walk and a hit-by-pitch and also scored twice. The RoughRiders finished with 10 hits and committed no errors.
Anderson worked through traffic from the beginning. Wichita opened the first with two singles, then loaded the bases on a pair of walks before Jaime Ferrer’s walk forced home the game’s first run. Anderson limited the damage there but allowed Brown’s tying homer in the fourth and departed after 3 2/3 innings, charged with two earned runs while striking out three and walking five.
Leandro Lopez took over with two runners aboard and ended the fourth on Caden Kendle’s lineout to left. He retired all four hitters he faced, including two by strikeout, to earn the win with 1 1/3 scoreless innings. Josh Trentadue followed with two perfect innings and two strikeouts, and Frisco added a run in the seventh for a 7-2 advantage.
That cushion nearly disappeared in the eighth. Jonathan Brand allowed a single to Kyle DeBarge and hit Ferrer before Brown drove a line ball to the wall in left for a two-run double. Quinn McDaniel’s two-out single to center scored Brown, cutting Frisco’s lead to 7-5 and bringing Roberts in with the tying run still at the plate.
Roberts had described his preferred bullpen mentality before the game in uncomplicated terms.
“Just go out there and kind of grip it and rip it and hope for the best.”
— Austin Roberts, RoughRiders Relief Pitcher
He needed more precision than hope. Roberts caught Marek Houston looking to end the eighth, then struck out Garrett Spain and Kendle to begin the ninth. Three batters, three punchouts, no room for Wichita to push the rally any further.
Quick outs and strikeouts, Roberts said before the game, can lift the dugout.
“I mean, quick outs, punch outs, obviously always get the boys going.”
— Austin Roberts, RoughRiders Relief Pitcher
Brandon Winokur grounded out to shortstop Luke Hanson for the last of Roberts’ four straight outs. The right-hander completed 1 1/3 scoreless innings for his third save, finishing what Kling had started in a debut that immediately shaped the game.