Frisco Loses Series In Arkansas
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NORTH LITTLE ROCK, AR – The Frisco RoughRiders lost the series and the final game of the set with a 4-1 loss against the Arkansas Travelers at Dickey-Stephens Park on Friday night.
Frisco’s starter Kevin Pucetas entered the night with 14 decisions in 15 appearances and he picked up another on Friday, unfortunately for him it was the loss.
He stranded three runners through two innings but surrendered the first runs of the night in the third inning. Randall Grichuk led off the third with his second hit in as many trips to the plate. Two batters later, Luis Montanez singled as well to put two aboard with just one out in the inning. Up stepped CJ Cron who knocked a ball off the glove of Alex Buchholz, bringing home a run on the error to make it 1-0. Kaleb Cowart then struck out and Frisco catcher Tomas Telis threw out Cron trying to steal, but on the play, Cron got in a rundown long enough to allow Montanez to come home from third to make it 2-0 Travelers.
On three hits in the fourth, the Travelers (5-4, 38-40) scored two more. A bloop single from Carlos Ramirez scored Jimmy Swift and Travis Witherspoon to extend the lead to 4-0.
Arkansas had posted seven hits off Pucetas to that point in the ballgame but picked up just one the rest of the way. Relying heavily on a knuckleball, Pucetas posted scoreless frames in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.
Unfortunately for the ‘Riders, the 4-0 lead was more than enough for Brandon Hynick and the Travelers bullpen. The ‘Riders again continued to struggle with men in scoring position, going just 1-for-6 with runners at second and third. Their sole hit in the situation came in the ninth, when Brett Nicholas
drove home Teodoro Martinez for the only RoughRiders run to make it 4-1, which was the final score.
Hynick (6-3) earned the win, while Pucetas (8-7) suffered the defeat. In six innings, he allowed four runs, three earned, on eight hits and three walks. He fanned two Travelers.
The RoughRiders head on to Springdale to begin a series with the Northwest Arkansas Naturals on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. Neil Ramirez (9-2, 2.89 ERA) makes the start for Frisco against the Naturals starting pitcher Jason Adam (3-8, 5.83 ERA). Fans can tune in to the play-by-play broadcast on www.RidersBaseball.com beginning at 6:40.
Frisco returns to Dr Pepper Ballpark on Wednesday, July 3 at 7:05 p.m., beginning a six-game home stand and a three-game series against the Arkansas Travelers. For information on tickets to see the RoughRiders in 2013, please call (972) 731-9200, email info@ridersbaseball.com or visit www.ridersbaseball.com.
