Matt Gorski had already singled once when he came up in the fifth inning with the game tied and El Paso’s pitching staff struggling to escape its own traffic. His next swing supplied exactly the separation the Comets would need.
Gorski ripped a sharp line drive to left, scoring Hyeseong Kim and Chris Newell for a three-run advantage. El Paso immediately cut that cushion to one, but the Comets’ bullpen held it there for a 4-3 victory Friday night at Southwest University Park.
The double completed a 2-for-4 night for Gorski, who drove in two runs and delivered the defining hit in Oklahoma City’s three-run fifth. It was an inning built as much on patience as power: Alek Thomas opened it with his second double of the night, and walks to Ryan Fitzgerald, Kim and Newell kept the pressure on Brent Honeywell.
Kim’s walk forced home Thomas with the go-ahead run. Gorski followed by lining his double to left, bringing Kim and Newell around for a 4-1 lead.
Those insurance runs quickly became the winning runs.
Christian Romero walked Victor Duarte and Mason McCoy in the bottom of the fifth before Bryce Johnson singled to center, scoring Duarte. Carlos Rodríguez then grounded into a force out, but an errant throw by Kim on Nick Solak’s grounder allowed another run to score and pulled the Chihuahuas within 4-3.
Romero recovered by striking out Nick Pratto to strand runners at the corners and preserve the lead. He finished five innings with six strikeouts and two walks, allowing two earned runs, and improved to 11-5.
The last six outs belonged to Ronan Kopp and Garrett McDaniels, though El Paso made them work for the final three.
Kopp struck out three over 1 1/3 scoreless innings, pitching around Duarte’s sixth-inning single before returning for the seventh. McCoy singled and Johnson walked in the final inning, and Kopp struck out Rodríguez before turning the game over to McDaniels.
An intentional walk to Solak loaded the bases and erased any margin for error. McDaniels responded by striking out Pratto and getting Gage Workman to fly out to left, securing his third save. Kopp earned his seventh hold, and the pair combined for two scoreless innings and four strikeouts.
Oklahoma City had spent much of the early game trying to catch El Paso. McCoy singled in the first, advanced on a sacrifice bunt and a groundout, then scored when Solak lined a two-out single to left.
The Comets tied it in the third without a hit in the scoring sequence. Chadwick Tromp walked, Zach Ehrhard replaced him on a force out and Thomas drew another walk. First baseman Nick Pratto then mishandled James Tibbs III’s grounder, allowing Ehrhard to score.
Thomas was at the center of Oklahoma City’s best opportunities. He doubled in the first but was stranded, walked during the tying rally in the third and doubled again to begin the decisive fifth. He finished 2-for-3 with two doubles, a walk and a run.
McCoy kept El Paso within reach by going 3-for-3 with a walk, two runs and two stolen bases. The Chihuahuas finished with seven hits, but none after McCoy’s seventh-inning single.
The Comets collected eight hits and committed one error. Their offense created the lead in one crowded inning; Gorski widened it with one swing, and the bullpen made the narrow advantage hold.