Drillers Homer In 13th Inning To Top San Antonio

The Tulsa Drillers won their first game of the young season but it didn't come easily.

Tulsa's Kiel Roling smacked a solo home run over the center field wall in the top of the inning before relief pitcher Cory Riordan struck out San Antonio's Rico Noel swinging to propel the Drillers to a 2-1 victory in a marathon 13-inning contest.

Tulsa (1-1) struck first in the top of the sixth inning when Kent Matthes doubled on a line drive to center field for an RBI, driving in Angelys Nina for a 1-0 advantage.

The Missions (1-1) responded in the bottom of the eighth when Reymond Fuentes doubled to score Chris Bisson.

Then a back-and-forth affair featuring strong pitching and defense strung the game out into the 13th inning before Tulsa was able to break through with the game-deciding play on Roling's homer.

Tulsa picked up 10 hits in the contest compared to five for San Antonio, but the Drillers had a hard time taking advantage as they finished just 1-for-15 on the night with runners in scoring position. The Missions also committed three errors to Tulsa's zero.

Tulsa starting pitcher Christian Bergman had a solid outing on the mound, allowing just one hit and no runs in six innings of work. Bergman also struck out six batters and finished with a 0.00 ERA.

But it was Riordan who picked up the win for the Drillers after allowing two hits and no runs with two strikeouts in the final two innings to seal the victory.

The two teams meet again in San Antonio on Saturday at 7:05 p.m.