Rafe Perich had already supplied Frisco’s first run when he came to the plate in the third inning with the bases loaded and a chance to turn a close game into something else entirely. He sent Riley Quick’s full-count pitch soaring toward right-center, over the bullpen and onto the concourse, a grand slam that gave the RoughRiders command of a night that became a 14-2 rout of the Wichita Wind Surge on Friday at Equity Bank Park.
Perich finished 3-for-5 with a walk and drove in five runs. His 16th home run was the defining swing in a six-run third inning, but it was also part of a broader offensive crush: Frisco collected 15 hits, scored in seven of nine innings and received at least one hit from seven members of its lineup.
The RoughRiders first reached Quick in the opening inning. Dylan Dreiling lined a single to center, moved to second on Arturo Disla’s groundout and scored when Perich rolled a two-out single through the left side.
Khadim Diaw answered in the bottom half, driving a hanging breaking ball over the wall in left-center to tie the game. The deadlock lasted until Frisco’s lineup turned over in the third.
Luke Hanson reached on an error, Sebastian Walcott singled and Dreiling threaded a grounder through the right side to bring Hanson home. Disla walked to fill the bases for Perich, whose drive made it 6-1 before Wichita recorded an out in the inning.
Frisco was not finished after the grand slam. Marcus Lee Sang singled, moved up on Paxton Kling’s sacrifice bunt and scored when Max Wagner pulled an RBI double down the left-field line. What had been a 1-1 game at the beginning of the inning was 7-1 by the end of it.
The RoughRiders kept adding rather than letting the game settle. Walcott scored during the fourth, and Frisco added another run in the fifth before a three-run sixth pushed the lead to 12-1. Ian Moller drew a bases-loaded walk in that rally, and Hanson lined a two-run single up the middle.
Disla opened the seventh by driving his 17th home run the other way into the RoughRiders’ bullpen. He finished 2-for-5 with a walk, giving Frisco a second home-run threat behind the night’s central figure.
Dreiling went 3-for-6, scored three times and drove in a run. Walcott also collected three hits, scored twice and stole two bases. Frisco’s final run came in the ninth, when Dreiling scored on Wichita’s third error.
For Kling, who was hit twice and scored during the sixth-inning rally, the outburst came as the RoughRiders prepared for postseason baseball. Before the game, the center fielder described the challenge of staying productive deep into the schedule.
“I mean, it’s fun. It’s just a game of baseball. I mean, it’s the same everywhere, but just got to get up every day in September and keep going. I mean, bodies don’t feel great, but people that play the best at 70 percent just keep going.”
— Paxton Kling, RoughRiders Center Fielder
Frisco’s pitching staff made the avalanche of offense more than enough. Jonathan Brand allowed one earned run over 2⅔ innings before Kai Wynyard entered to retire Diaw and strand a runner in the third. Wynyard worked 2⅓ scoreless innings without a walk to earn his first win.
Brock Porter covered the final four innings for his first save, allowing one earned run and striking out four. Wichita managed only three hits against the three Frisco pitchers, while the RoughRiders played error-free defense.
The combination of familiar teammates and meaningful September games has made Kling’s late arrival an easy one to embrace.
“Yeah, I mean, I’m just glad to see them again. They’re great people, great baseball players, and it’s just going to be a fun experience through the playoffs here and see what we can do.”
— Paxton Kling, RoughRiders Center Fielder
On Friday, what they could do was unmistakable: keep the line moving, keep scoring and give Perich the stage for the swing that broke the game open.