By Cade Haak
TEXARKANA, Texas (July 10, 2024) – The Rhinos were able to keep game one against Abilene close for six innings before the Bison ran away with the game in the top of its final frame to win 12-8. Game two was the opposite, as the Rhinos scored early, but from the second inning on, Abilene was able to dominate on the way to the 9-2 win.
The Flying Bison started all scoring in game one as they scored two runs in the top of the first inning. Then, in the top of the second, they stacked another single run onto their lead to make it 3-0. The Rhinos got their offensive action going in the bottom of the second. Christian Rosales singled to score Neil Jansen’s for the Rhinos first run, and then Tahj Cunningham, who was making his Texarkana Rhinos debut, scored from third as Abilene’s second baseman made an errant throw to first, which allowed Cunningham to cross home plate.
Action continued for both teams in the third; for Abilene, they scored three runs on two hits and an error. The Rhinos returned in the bottom of the third as Tahj Cunningham made an even further impact in his Rhinos debut as he hit a sacrifice fly that allowed Rylan Evans to score from third.
Abilene then scored one run in each of the next two innings and held onto an 8-3 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth. Despite being down largely late in the game, the Rhinos retaliated with five runs to tie the game going into its final two innings. The first two runs came in when Jackson Glymph hit a double into left field that scored Gabriel Natividad and Jackson Glymph. Glymph himself was then brought across to score on a triple that Tahj Cunningham connected with and sent down the right field line just in play. A single from Christian Rosales that made its way between the shortstop and third baseman was able to score Cunningham for run number four of the inning. Then a single from Sota Suzuki went right back where it came from and made its way into centerfield scored the fifth and final run of the inning for the Rhinos to tie the game.
Neither team scored in the sixth inning before the Flying Bison took their final trip of the game to the plate in the seventh. The Texarkana Rhinos quickly got two outs in the top of the seventh and were very close to getting out of the inning without any damage, but an error on the left fielder allowed the inning to continue, and Abilene took advantage of the opportunity by scoring four runs during the two-out rally.
The Rhinos came out swinging in the bottom of the seventh as Tahj Cunningham got his second hit of the game in the form of a single to start the inning, but Austin Adair closed the door on any comeback with three quick outs. Adair took the win in game one for the Flying Bison to improve his record to 3-0. Scott Trumble, who made his debut for Texarkana in front of his home crowd, left the game with the loss on his slate.
Texarkana was the first to score in game two of the series as they brought a run across in the home half of the first inning. The run was scored by Ian Guanzon, as he scored on an error that allowed Rylan Evans to reach first base safely.
Following the one-run lead the Rhinos took early, the game flipped in favor of Abilene, and the Rhinos were completely unable to get any momentum back on their side. A variety of pitchers came in for Abilene, and they all had dominant outings as the Rhinos went scoreless for the next five innings. In between when the Rhinos scored their first run in the bottom of the first and their second in the bottom of the seventh, the Flying Bison soared, scoring nine runs in the middle five innings. The highlight of the game for the Bison was a three-run shot that made its way out of the park from the bat of Josh Overbeek.
The win went to Joe Sockwell, who pitches for Texas Tech when he’s not repping the flying Bison. This was his fourth win of the year, tying him for the league’s best. The loss went to Brandon Cardenas, as his record fell to 4-3 following the struggles against the league’s leading offense.
