CLEBURNE, Tex. (Aug. 15, 2019) – The Cleburne Railroaders scored eight runs in the bottom of the first inning and cruised to a 9-1 win over the Sioux City Explorers on Thursday night at The Depot at Cleburne Station. With the win, the Railroaders (48-35) set a franchise record for most wins in a single season.

Cleburne put the game away with the huge first inning, knocking around Sioux City starter Carlos Sierra (7-1). RBI singles from John Nester, Ryan Brett and Logan Trowbridge made it 3-0, then K.C. Huth drew a bases-loaded walk with two outs to push the advantage to 4-0. Daniel Robertson made it a six-run inning with a two-RBI single, then Angel Reyes hit a fly ball to left that was dropped, scoring the final two runs of the inning.

That was more than enough support for Stephen Johnson (7-1), who pitched well against Sioux City for the second time in a week. The big right-hander allowed just five hits and one run over seven innings, surrendering only a two-out RBI single to Kyle Wren in the second inning for the Explorers scoring. He retired 11 in a row at one point, picking up five strikeouts on the evening.

Ryan Brett smacked a long solo homer in the bottom of the second to quickly answer Wren’s knock, extending the lead to 9-1 and ending the scoring for the evening.

John Shull made his professional debut with a scoreless top of the eighth, and Bryan Saucedo slammed the door with a zero in the top of the ninth.

The Railroaders and Explorers continue their series on Friday night at 7:06 PM. Jesus Sanchez (8-3, 3.16) goes for Cleburne, while Sioux City counters with righty Eric Karch (4-5, 5.26).

For information on partnerships, season tickets, group outings, and party packages, call the Railroaders main office at (817) 945-8705, or visit the Railroaders official website at www.railroaderbaseball.com.

Boxscore

by Denning Gerig