Former Arkansas star Kevin Kopps pitched the ninth inning for the Missions.Two players at different stages of their careers saw action on the mound for the San Antonio Missions on Saturday at Wolff Stadium in a 6-1 loss to Corpus Christi.
Javy Guerra pitched in a combined 22 games in relief for the San Diego Padres in 2019 and 2020. He hasn’t pitched in the majors this season due to an elbow issue.
The 6-foot, right-hander from Panama was assigned to the Missions on a rehab assignment Saturday and pitched the fifth inning on Saturday night. He retired the side in order with no hits, walks or strikeouts.
Kevin Kopps, playing in his first summer of pro ball after a stellar college career at Arkansas, pitched at Wolff Stadium for the second time this week. He worked the scoreless ninth inning, allowing no hits, one walk and no strikeouts.
Eguy Rosario scored the Missions’ only run in the fourth inning. He doubled, went to third on a wild pitched and went home on Dwanya Williams-Sutton’s sacrifice fly.
San Diego Padres prospect MacKennzie Gore was the Missions’ starting pitcher on Friday at Wolff Stadium.MacKenzie Gore pitched at Wolff Stadium for his first and only time this season on Friday night.
The highly regarded San Diego Padres prospect made his second start of the season for the San Antonio Missions in a 4-1 victory over the Corpus Christi Hooks.
Gore did not get a decision, pitching four innings and allowing one run on three hits, three walks and eight strikeouts. He made his first start for the Missions on the road last week, going five innings and allowing two runs.
The 6-foot-2 left-hander was a first-round draft pick, No. 3 overall, by the Padres in 2017.
The game was tied 1-1 heading into the late innings. The Missions got a solo home run from Michael Curry in the seventh inning to take the lead for good. Eguy Rosario added a two-run homer in the eighth for the final runs of the game.
Esteury Ruiz had this catch in center field in addition to two run-scoring hits for the Missions.Esteury Ruiz’s three-run double in the seventh inning gave the San Antonio Missions the lead for good in an 8-6 victory over the Corpus Christi Hooks on Thursday at Wolff Stadium.
Ruiz’s key hit was a bases-loaded cracked-bat bloop that landed near the right-field line. That broke a 3-3 tie and put the Missions up 6-3. The Missions weren’t done that inning as they put up five runs with RBI hits by Ethan Skender and Eguy Rosario to surge in front 8-3.
The Hooks made it interesting when they scored a run in the eighth and loaded the bases in the top of the ninth and scored two more.
The Missions’ first three runs came in the second inning. Esteury Ruiz had a two-run hit. Michael Curry doubled to drive in Dwanya Williams-Sutton with the first run of the game.
Missions starting pitcher Jerry Keel went six innings and allowed three runs, two earned. Sam Williams (3-2) pitched a scoreless seventh inning and earned the win.
Kevin Kopps, a 2021 San Diego Padres draft pick, made his Missions debut on Wednesday at Wolff Stadium.Kevin Kopps was a third-round pick by the San Diego Padres in the 2021 draft in July.
Over the course of the summer he has jumped from the University of Arkansas to rookie ball to Class A Fort Wayne and then to Double-A.
Kopps made his Double-A debut on Wednesday night at Wolff Stadium. He pitched the ninth inning for the San Antonio Missions in a 4-0 loss to the Corpus Christi Hooks.
The 6-foot, right-hander struck out two batters, had a hit-by-pitch and got the other out on a fly ball. He is expected to see more action with the Missions before their season ends Sunday.
The Houston native pitched in 92 games in his college career at Arkansas, mostly as a reliever. He had seven starts and 13 saves.
Kopps earned the Golden Spikes Award, Dick Howser Trophy, first-team All-American honors and D1Baseball and Collegiate Baseball national player of the year for the 2021 college season.
Missions center fielder Esteury Ruiz catches a deep fly ball against the fence on Tuesday.The Corpus Christi Hooks hit four home runs to beat the San Antonio Missions 9-4 on Tuesday.
The Missions Ethan Skender hit his first home run since joining the team Aug. 27.
The Hooks got two homers from Enmanuel Valdez and one each from Cesar Salazar and Joe Perez.
Kyle Overstreet hit his fourth home run of the season in the Missions’ victory over the Sod Poodles.Kyle Overstreet homered in the second inning to start the San Antonio Missions’ scoring and Olivier Basabe hit a three-run blast in the third in Sunday’s 7-4 victory over the Amarillo Sod Poodles.
The Missions put up four runs in the second inning and led the rest of the way. Overstreet led off with his fourth homer of the season. Chandler Seagle had a two-run double and Ethan Skender drove in Seagle.
Missions starting pitcher Pedro Avila went four innings and allowed one run. Sam McWilliams, the Missions’ first reliever of the night, contributed two innings and got the win. Nick Kuzia pitched the ninth inning and earned his fifth save.
The Missions play their next six games on the road. They end their season with six games at Wolff Stadium beginning Tuesday, Sept. 14.
Pedro Avila – San Antonio Missions
Kyle Overstreet – San Antonio Missions
Chandler Seagle – San Antonio Missions
Ethan Skender – San Antonio Missions
Olivier Basabe, Kyle Overstreet – San Antonio Missions
Missions shortstop Eguy Rosario makes a throw to first on a grounder to the left side.The Amarillo Sod Poodles beat the San Antonio Missions for the third night in a row with a 6-3 decision on Saturday at Wolff Stadium.
Amarillo’s Stone Garrett hit his 18th home run of the season, a two-run shot in the third inning. The Sod Poodles had 10 hits including four doubles and one triple. The Missions had six total hits, including two by Olivier Basabe, and no extra-base hits.
All three Missions runs crossed in the bottom of the third. Basabe scored on Eguy Rosario’s sacrifice fly, Esteury Ruiz scored on a wild pitch and Ethan Skender scored on Kyle Overstreet’s sacrifice fly.
Allen Cordoba hit a second-inning double that led to the San Antonio Missions’ only run on Friday at Wolff Stadium. – photo by Joe AlexanderThe Amarillo Sod Poodles pounded out 16 hits including three home runs to beat the San Antonio Missions 8-1 on Friday at Wolff Stadium.
Amarillo’s Ryder Jones homered in the first inning, Dominic Canzone homered in the second and Dominic Miroglio homered in the eighth.
The Missions only run came in the second inning, when Allen Cordoba doubled and scored on another double by Michael Curry. Cordoba had two of the Missions’ six hits.
Agustin Ruiz hit his fourth home run as a member of the Missions.The Amarillo Sod Poodles scored four runs in the top of the eighth inning to rally past the San Antonio Missions 6-5 on Thursday night at Wolff Stadium.
The Missions got eight hits including a two-run, seventh-inning homer by Agustin Ruiz. Eguy Rosario had two hits including his 28th double of the season.
Missions starting pitcher Osvaldo Hernandez went five innings and allowed two runs on five hits and no walks with six strikeouts. Reliever James Reeves pitched the last five outs for the Missions and took the loss.
The Missions’ Ethan Skender (center) celebrates with teammates after his walk-off hit in Wednesday’s second game at Wolff Stadium.Ethan Skender ended a five-hour, 14-inning night of baseball with a walk-off hit to give the San Antonio Missions a doubleheader sweep of the Amarillo Sod Poodles at Wolff Stadium.
GAME 2: MISSIONS 5, SOD POODLES 4
Skender singled with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning of the second game, bringing home Kelvin Melean with the winning run in a 5-4 Missions victory.
The Missions’ Allen Cordoba scored a key run in the bottom of the sixth. He stole second and then went all the way around to third and home on two throwing errors on the play. That tied the game 4-4.
Allen Cordoba – San Antonio Missions
Allen Cordoba – San Antonio Missions
Kelvin Melean – San Antonio Missions
Ethan Skender – San Antonio Missions
Ethan Skender – San Antonio Missions
Kelvin Melean – San Antonio Missions
Esteury Ruiz, Ethan Skender – San Antonio Missions
Ethan Skender – San Antonio Missions
Ethan Skender – San Antonio Missions
Ethan Skender – San Antonio Missions
GAME 1: MISSIONS 2, SOD POODLES 0
The Missions limited the Sod Poodles to one hit to win the first game 2-0. Juan Fernandez hit his eighth home run of the season and Eguy Rosario’s sacrifice fly scored Olivier Basabe with the other run.
Missions starting pitcher Brandon Komar, who has usually been a reliever this season, went five innings and allowed only one hit and one walk with three strikeouts.
Brandon Komar – San Antonio Missions
Juan Fernandez – San Antonio Missions
Olivier Basabe – San Antonio Missions
Olivier Basabe slides into home on Eguy Rosario’s sacrifice fly to score the Missions’ second run in Wednesday’s first game at Wolff Stadium. – photo by Joe Alexander
