By Cade Haak
TEXARKANA, TX (June 21st, 2024) – The Texarkana Rhinos kicked off their home stand with a victory over the visiting Joplin Outlaws, 13-9.
The Rhinos were first to score as Neil Jansen was able to send a solo shot over the outfield wall to give the Rhinos a 1-0 lead after one inning.
In response to the single run by the Rhinos, the Joplin Outlaws came back with a five-run top of the second to swing the game back in their favor. Out of these five runs, only three were earned runs against the Rhinos starter, Brandon Cardenas.
Following the five-run inning by Joplin, Texarkana did their best to chip away at the deficit over the next few innings. They scored two in the bottom of the third after Ian Guanzon was able to gather two RBIs by singling to bring in Matt Beuka and Neil Jansen, who had both walked earlier in the inning. In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Rhinos added another single run to their total to cut Joplin’s lead down to one. The runner that scored was Wyatt Cunningham after he singled to get on base. The Rhinos star bat for the night, Neil Jansen, then made his way to the plate and connected with a double to bring in Cunningham.
In the top of the sixth inning, Joplin extended their lead over the Rhinos to two runs following an RBI single by Andres Garcia, but the Rhinos took the lead in the bottom half of the sixth and stayed in the lead from this point on. The Rhinos doubled the number of runs they had scored to this point by bringing home four runs. Three of these runs came off of a single swing, as Ian Guanzon was able to find green grass in the outfield for a double and cleared the bases for the Rhinos in the process. Guanzon was then brought in to score himself when Gabriel Natividad added another hit to the board for Texarkana by driving a triple into the outfield.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Rhinos hot bats continued. They tallied five more runs to build their total all the way up to 13 for the night. The first two runs of the inning both came by pitcher error, as Matt Beuka was hit by pitch with the bases loaded to bring in one, and Ian Guanzon walked in a similar situation for the second run of the inning. The next three runs were scored when Gabriel Natividad ripped a double to clear the bases and give himself four RBIs on the day.
The Outlaws attempted to mount a comeback in the top of the eighth inning, but the three runs they scored were not enough to bring them back into the game against the Rhinos.
The Rhinos used two pitchers on the evening, with the starter being Brandon Cardenas, who pitched 5.2 innings and allowed six runs, four of which were earned. The other arm for the Rhinos was Chance Reed, who was brought in as relief in the middle innings of the game but proved he had enough in the tank to finish the game out for Texarkana. Reed finished his night with 3.2 innings, pitched four strikeouts, and allowed three runs while on the mound.
Next Up:
The Rhinos finish out the series against the Outlaws tonight at 7:05 before setting up to defend “The Zoo” against the Sherman Shadowcats in a four-game series over the next two days.
