The San Antonio Missions earned a hard-fought win in walk-off fashion over the Corpus Christi Hooks 7-6 on Wednesday night at Nelson W. Wolff Municipal Stadium. 

With San Diego Padres’ No.9 prospect Austin Krob on the mound, San Antonio got into trouble early and found themselves chasing the lead for all nine innings. Their chase concluded with an electric walk-off sacrifice fly in extra innings. 

Krob started things off by walking the first two batters. Hooks’ infielder Jeron Williams capitalized the next at-bat by slicing an RBI triple into right field, scoring both runners. Designated hitter Colin Barber got the final run of the inning for the Hooks with a sacrifice fly to center field, allowing Williams to cruise to the plate, bringing Corpus Christi’s lead to 3-0. 

The Missions responded in the bottom of the first with an RBI double from infielder Marcos Castañon. Two innings later, San Antonio struck again, this time with an RBI single from outfielder Cole Cummings, making the score 3-2. 

Corpus Christi added to its lead in the top of the fourth; an RBI triple from infielder Tommy Saco Jr. pushed lead-off hitter Jeremy Arocho to home base,  extending their lead back up to two runs. 

In the bottom of the fifth, San Antonio tied the game at 4-4. 

Missions’ catcher Brandon Valenzuela scored the first run of the inning with an RBI double to center field. The tying run came from infielder Robbie Tenerowicz, a sacrifice fly to center field that would push Castañon home. 

The Hooks retook the lead in the seventh after Missions’ pitcher Yovanny Cruz hit Hooks’ outfielder Zach Cole with a pitch while the bases were loaded. 

San Antonio tied the game once more in the eighth after a sacrifice fly from Valenzuela allowed Ray-Patrick Didder to score. 

In true back-and-forth fashion, Sacco Jr. took the first pitch of the ninth inning over the fence, reestablishing the Hooks lead. 

That lead was short-lived as Didder tied the game up once again for the Missions with an RBI single, that was all the Missions’ offense could muster as the game would enter extra innings. 

After holding the Hooks scoreless in the top of the 10th, Castañon sealed the win for the Missions with a sacrifice fly to right field. Clay Dungan narrowly beat the tag at home plate, and San Antonio escaped with the win. 

Game three of the Missions’ series against Hooks is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Thursday at Nelson W. Wolff Municipal Stadium.

Rylan Renteria

Rylan is a psychology major in his junior year at UTSA, and is currently a writer for The Paisano. As a major fan of both the Seattle Seahawks and Mariners, Rylan is also very supportive of the San Antonio Spurs and all UTSA Athletics Aside from watching sports, Rylan enjoys watching horror movies, playing video games and playing intramural sports.