Express Shuts Out RedHawks

One night after the Oklahoma City RedHawks tallied seven runs and 15 hits, four Round Rock Express pitchers combined on a four-hit shutout in a 5-0 Express win Friday night at Dell Diamond.

Round Rock (1-1) starting pitcher Nick Tepesch stymied the RedHawks (1-1) over six scoreless innings. Tepesch (1-0) allowed just a pair of singles with one walk and four strikeouts. He retired the final 10 batters he faced and finished his night by retiring the side on just four pitches in the sixth inning.

The Express bullpen followed Tepesch's lead, holding the RedHawks scoreless over the final three innings. Aaron Poreda, Rafael Perez, and Roman Mendez each turned in a scoreless frame to complete the blanking.

The quartet of Round Rock pitchers gave up a total of four hits, all of which were singles, and allowed just one RedHawk runner to reach scoring position. The four also combined to retire 19 of the final 21 Oklahoma City batters.

Just like Thursday night, the Express jumped out to an early lead thanks to a big home run. Former RedHawk Brad Snyder connected on a three-run homer out to deep center field in the first inning, giving Round Rock a 3-0 advantage.

Snyder also drew two walks and scored three of the Express' five runs.

The Express added to its lead in the third inning, when a two-out error by RedHawks third baseman Jonathan Meyer allowed another run to score. The final run of the night crossed on a wild pitch by Paul Clemens in the eighth inning.

Max Stassi led the RedHawks with two hits. Austin Wates and George Springer were responsible for the team's other two hits.

After a bumpy first inning, the RedHawks pitching staff allowed just one earned run and three hits the rest of the way. Jake Buchanan, Chia-Jen Lo, and Paul Clemens combined to strike out eight batters, as the pitching staff has notched 25 strikeouts through the first 19 innings of the season.

Buchanan (0-1) picked up the loss after giving up four runs and four hits over four innings. He struck out three and walked two.

The RedHawks will look to restart their offense when they face the Express at 6:05 p.m. Saturday night.