By Cade Haak
WHITE OAK, TX (June 29th, 2024) – The Texarkana Rhinos were unable to keep up with the Piney Woods TimberHogs, as early offense from the TimberHogs led to their eventual victory.
The game began with Yuto Mimura and Gage Goddard both searching for their first win of the season on the mound. Mimura allowed seven runs on five hits before being pulled after pitching 3.2 innings, resulting in a loss. While Goddard allowed only one run in five innings and notched his first victory of the year.
In the home half of the first inning, the TimberHogs were the first to score when Juan Murillo hit his third home run of the series in game three. Jackson Glymph was able to tie the game up with a long ball of his own for the Rhinos first run of the game in the top of the second inning. Following Glymph’s game-tying home run, the TimberHogs then took back their lead with two more runs in the bottom of the second, and from that point on, they never relinquished their lead.
The fourth inning saw the TimberHogs extend their lead as they brought home four runs on just one hit due to pitching struggles from the Rhinos. After this four-run burst, the TimberHogs bats then went quiet for three innings as the Rhinos searched for a comeback in the latter half of the game.
During this drought for the TimberHogs, the Rhinos added three more runs to their total, with one in the sixth inning and two in the seventh. Mason Sellers was the lone run in the seventh, as after he hit a double into center field, he was driven in when Matt Beuka singled into left field. The two runs in the seventh were scored on a single swing by Antonio Sabala when Sabala lifted a single out into center field to score both Gabriel Natividad and Ian Guanzon.
From the two runs in the seventh until the end of the game, the Rhinos bats were shut down by good pitching from the TimberHogs, and the TimberHogs were able to push their lead even further to walk away from the game with a 10-4 win.
