Barriga, Serretti Go Deep in Soddies' Third Straight Win

AMARILLO, TX (September 10, 2026) -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (39-27, 75-59) defeated the San Antonio Missions (27-39, 58-77), 5-3, on Thursday night at HODGETOWN. Despite three homers surrendered early, the Amarillo bullpen locked in to keep the Missions off the board down the stretch and secure their third straight win.

Both sides put a runner on third base in the opening stanza, but both were stranded as the game left the first inning without a run. Amarillo changed that in the second after Ben McLaughlin led off the frame with a double and Danny Serretti walked, setting the table for Jean Walters who laced a triple down the right field line later in the inning to bring home the pair and give the Soddies the lead.

San Antonio matched it quickly in the third with Brendan Durfee and Kai Roberts hitting back-to-back jacks to tie the game. Amarillo took the lead right back in the home half after Avery Owusu-Asiedu doubled to right and advanced to third on an errant throw from the right fielder. With Angel Ortiz grounding out in the following at-bat, Owusu-Asiedu scored standing up for the third Amarillo tally of the night.

Ryan Jackson evened the score once more in the fourth, homering on the first pitch he saw to lead things off. However, Alberto Barriga returned the favor, sending an 0-2 pitch deep to left and clearing the wall for the go-ahead solo homer to make it a 4-3 game.

Alberto Barriga goes over Bar 352 to take the lead! 💣 pic.twitter.com/EHLbWIVoaK

— Amarillo Sod Poodles (@sodpoodles) September 11, 2026

Entering the game out of the bullpen in the sixth for his Sod Poodles debut was Joe Ariola. The lefty needed only seven pitches to toss a three-up, three-down inning before Serretti checked in with a solo homer in the bottom half that bounced off the batter’s eye in center field, making it a two-run advantage for the hosts.

Ariola followed up an efficient sixth inning with a quick seventh as he fired only eight pitches to post another 1-2-3 frame, ending it with his first Double-A strikeout on a high-heater to Durfee.

Logan Mercado took the ball for ninth in a save opportunity and was successful in converting it by inducing a 6-4-3 double play – the third such turn of the night – to end the game and secure the 5-3 Soddies win.

POSTGAME NOTES

I’M McLAUGHLIN IT: Extending his hit streak to seven games with a second inning double tonight was Ben McLaughlin...entering play, he had four straight two-RBI games, the second-longest multi-RBI streak in the Texas League this season...since August 8, he is batting .312 (29x93) with 12 XBH, 20 RBI, and a .900 OPS over 23 games.

SHINE ON YOU CRAZY DIAMOND: Posting a third straight multi-hit effort with a triple and two RBI tonight was Jean Walters...over his most recent seven games, he is batting .400 (10x25) with 5 RBI and a .943 OPS.

TICKETS FOR SEPTEMBER 15 vs. FRISCO

With a win over San Antonio on Tuesday in addition to Midland's loss to Corpus Christi, the Amarillo Sod Poodles officially punched their ticket to the postseason! They will match up with the Frisco RoughRiders (Texas Rangers) – the First Half winners of the Texas League South – at 6:35 p.m. on Tuesday, September 15 at HODGETOWN for game one of the Divisional Round.