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Corpus Christi Hooks: Playoff tickets on sale August 10

(CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas) - Tickets for the 2006 Texas League Playoffs at Whataburger Field go on sale Thursday, August 10 at 9 a.m. Tickets can be purchased by visiting or calling the Hooks Ticket Office at (361) 561-HOOK. Tickets will be available for purchase on www.cchooks.com beginning at 9:30 a.m.

Tickets can be purchased on a single-game basis or in a six-game package. By purchasing the six-game package, fans are able to reserve the same seats for all six games. Customers who purchase the six-game package will be refunded for any games not played.

Playoffs begin Tuesday, September 5 at 7:05 p.m. when the Hooks, first-half champions of the Texas League South, host Game One of the South Division Series against the South's second-half winner. Game Two is at Whataburger Field the following night at 7:05 p.m. If the Hooks win the South Division, they'll host Game Five on September 9 at 7:05 p.m., if necessary.

Should Corpus Christi capture the Division Series and advance to the TLCS, games three, four and five are all scheduled for September 14-16 at Whataburger Field, with games four and five played if necessary.

Both the Division and Championship Series are played in a best three-of-five format.

South Division Playoffs: Best 3-of-5
Scenario "A" (if Hooks win 2nd half South Division Title)
#1 Tue. Sept. 5 TBD @ Hooks, 7:05
#2 Wed. Sept. 6 TBD @ Hooks, 7:05
#5 Sat. Sept. 9 TBD @ Hooks, 7:05 if necessary

Scenario "B" (if another club wins 2nd half South Division Title)
#1 Tue. Sept. 5 TBD @ Hooks, 7:05
#2 Wed. Sept. 6 TBD @ Hooks, 7:05

Texas League Championship Series: Best 3-of-5
Game 3 Thursday, Sept. 14 TBD @ Hooks, 7:05
Game 4 Friday, Sept. 15 TBD @ Hooks, 7:05 if necessary
Game 5 Saturday, Sept. 16 TBD @ Hooks, 7:05 if necessary

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The Tulsa Drillers fielded a lineup Tuesday night that was missing Seth Smith, Ian Stewart and Joe Koshansky, and when Corpus Christi scored three times in the top of the first inning, it figured that the Drillers would have a difficult time posting a comeback victory. That was not the case as Tulsa scored five times in the first four innings, and starting pitcher Enmanuel Ulloa turned in six gritty innings as the Drillers claimed a 5-4 victory. The win snapped a four-game losing streak for Tulsa and a four-game winning streak for Corpus Christi.

With three of their top hitters getting a night off and watching from the dugout, the Drillers fell behind quickly thanks to the Hooks big first inning. Josh Anderson led off the game with a double over right fielder Joe Gaetti's head. After Josh Ash flied out, Hunter Pence hit a ball not only over Gaetti's head, but also over the right field wall for his 26th homer of the season. Walter Young followed with a blast that easily cleared the right field fence and the Hooks had a 3-0 lead.

The Drillers got a run in the first inning against Hooks' starter Josh Muecke. Troy Tulowitzki led off with a double, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a ground out by Jeff Dragicevich.

They tied the game with a pair of runs in the third. Doug Bernier singled, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Ulloa and to third on a ground out by Tulowitzki. A double by Dragicevich scored Bernier to make it 3-2. After Christian Colonel walked, a strange play extended the inning. A pitch from Muecke escaped catcher Kevin Davidson, and when Colonel took off, the Drillers ended up with two runners near second base. While Colonel was in a rundown, Dragicevich advanced to third. The Hooks misplayed the rundown and Colonel scrambled back to first to keep the inning alive. Joe Gaetti made the Hooks pay for their mistake when he singled to center field to tie the game at 3-3.

Tulsa took the lead with two more runs in the fourth inning. Three straight singles by Alvin Colina, Jud Thigpen and Bernier gave the Drillers the lead. With runners at the corners, Ulloa then laid down a sacrifice bunt that not only advanced Bernier to second, but allowed Thigpen to race home to make it 5-3.

After the rough first inning, Ulloa settled in. He worked the first six innings, allowing only the three first-inning runs. He allowed only four more hits after the difficult first.

Josh Newman relieved Ulloa and worked two scoreless innings, striking out three.

The Hooks made things interesting in the ninth inning off Tulsa closer Jim Miller. Davidson led off with a walk and pinch hitter Tike Redman singled to put runners at first and second. Anderson attempted a sacrifice bunt, but first baseman Colonel threw to third to get the lead runner. Miller then walked Jonny Ash to load the bases for Pence. The Hooks right fielder was retired on strikes to move the Drillers to within one out of a victory. Miller seemed to have obtained that out when Young chopped a slow grounder to the left of second base, but the ball scooted under Tulowitzki's glove for an error. Davidson scored on the play as the bases remained loaded. Jorge Cortes then sent a drive to deep left-center field that Thigpen hauled in near the warning track to end the game. For Miller, it was his sixth save of the year, while Ulloa improved his record to 6-4 with the win.

Even though he did not start, Ian Stewart, who carried a 19-game hitting streak, entered the game as a pinch hitter in the sixth inning. He grounded out to second in the at-bat and stayed in the game, playing third base. The pinch-hit appearance would be his only at-bat as he was in the on-deck circle when Tulowitzki made the final out in the eighth inning. His streak ended as the second-longest in the Texas League this season.

Thigpen led a 10-hit Tulsa attack, going 3-4.

The Drillers will conclude their series with the Hooks and their homestand Wednesday night. Marc Kaiser (7-9, 4.78 ERA) will pitch the finale for Tulsa, while Chance Douglass (6-5, 3.30 ERA) will take the mound for Corpus Christi. First pitch will be at 7:05PM at Drillers Stadium.

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The Midland RockHounds earned their second straight ninth-inning, walk-off win over the Springfield Cardinals, picking up a 2-1 victory on Tuesday night at Citibank Ballpark in Midland.

Cory Doyne's bases-loaded walk to Matt Allegra forced in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth, giving the RockHounds their second straight win over the Cards and a 5-1 record over the Redbirds at Citibank Ballpark this year.

One night after scoring just one run on only two hits, the Cards' offense was held to just one run on six hits.

Midland took a 1-0 lead into the eighth, before the Cards finally got on the board. Midland reliever Mike Mitchell came out of the bullpen to open the eighth inning and issued a lead-off walk to Mike McCoy. After a sac bunt by Reid Gorecki moved McCoy to second base, Cody Haerther delivered the game-tying hit, a single to left field, scoring McCoy to even the game at 1-1.

Cards' reliever Cory Doyne, who worked a 1-2-3 eighth inning, struggled with his control in the ninth. After retiring the first hitter to open the inning, Doyne (1-5) issued a one-out walk to Midland's Brian Stavisky. Casey Myers followed with a single down the right-field line, moving Stavisky to third base. After a walk to Kevin Melillo loaded the bases, Matt Allegra stepped to the plate. Allegra took the count to 3-2 before finally taking Doyne's last pitch high for ball four, scoring Stavisky from third with the winning run.

Ironically, Midland's other run of the game came on a bases-loaded walk. With the sacks full of RockHounds in the second inning, Cards' starter Mike Parisi walked Mark Kiger, forcing in Brant Colamarino from third with the game's first run. Parisi gave up just the one run on six hits in six innings of work.

Midland starter Michael Rogers pitched seven shutout innings, scattering five hits in the no-decision.

RockHounds' reliever Connor Robertson (6-2) earned the win by retiring all five batters he faced.

Travis Hanson had three of Springfield's six hits, ending a six-game hitless streak.

Springfield falls to 19-26, now seven games back of Wichita in the North Division. Jordan Pals (7-6) will look to get Springfield turned around, going to the mound on Wednesday night in the final game of the road trip. Midland will send former big-leaguer Kevin Olson to the mound. Game time from Midland is 6:30pm on Wednesday night.

The Cards return to Hammons Field on Thursday, August 10th, as they're home for a seven-game home stand against Frisco and Midland. Don't forget that on Monday, August 14th, 2,500 fans will receive a free Bob Gibson Bobblehead Doll thanks to Cingular! Tickets are available for the upcoming home stand by calling (417) 863-2143 or online at www.springfieldcardinals.com.

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Ray Winder Field, Little Rock, AR - SS Casey Benjamin drove in five runs and the Frisco RoughRiders (23-22, 58-57) made up a six-run deficit to hand the Arkansas Travelers (21-24, 45-69) an 8-7 loss. After the Travs rallied for six runs in the first inning, Frisco tallied eight straight runs with Benjamin's three-run homer (4) in the sixth inning providing the winning runs. Frisco 3B Enrique Cruz finished 4-for-4 with a double, an RBI and three runs scored.

Arkansas RHP Jesse Smith (7-10) was touched for seven runs (four earned) on ten hits and two walks for the loss. After allowing six runs in the first inning, Frisco RHP Kea Kometani (4-5) held the Travs scoreless over his last four innings to finish five frames with six runs allowed on 11 hits and three walks with six strikeouts. Travs 3B Matt Brown collected three base hits including a three-run homer (14) on his 24th birthday. Travs SS Brandon Wood also homered (24) in the ninth, but Frisco RHP Jesse Ingram struck out CF Terry Evans in the ninth with the tying run on base for his third save.

The Travs' first-inning rally began when RF Nathan Haynes's leadoff groundball never made it out of the infield grass for a single. LF Aaron Peel followed with a line single to left and Brown popped a one-out three-run homer to left field on a 3-2 pitch for a 3-0 Travs lead. Evans followed with a single to left field and DH Greg Porter singled to right field. C Brent Del Chiaro blooped a single in front of RF Kevin Mahar. Mahar bobbled the ball while Evans scored for a 4-0 Travs lead. Porter ran for third base on the bobble and scored when Mahar overthrew third base for a 5-0 Travs lead. Rodland's triple to left-center brought home Del Chiaro for a 6-0 lead.

With one out in the top of the second inning, Frisco LF Ben Harrisson's grounder to third was muffed by Brown for an error. A two-out single by Cruz moved Harrisson to third base and both runners scored when Benjamin lined a double to left-center cutting into the Travs' lead at 6-2.

Frisco would have scored in the third inning but Peel picked up Nate Gold's single and threw out Tim Hulett at the plate.

Frisco C Kevin Richardson led off the fourth with an infield single. Cruz and Benjamin singled to load the bases and Richardson scored when Ruddy Yan bounced out to second base. With Arkansas leading 6-3, Cruz tried to score on a fly out to center by Hulett. Evans pegged Cruz with a perfect line throw to the plate for the last out.

Smith retired the side in order in the fifth, but Harrison led off the sixth inning with a double past third base. Richardson then bounced to short and Harrison ran for third base. Wood fielded the ball and looked the third, but the ball popped out of his glove for an error that allowed Richardson to reach. Smith got to 2-2 on Cruz before he poked a double past third base to score Harrison to bring the Riders within 6-4. Benjamin then laced a 2-1 pitch over the right-field fence (his third home run against the Travs) to put Frisco in front 7-6.

Arkansas RHP Bill Edwards relieved and set down seven straight batters before Cruz singled in the eighth with one out. He then stole second base and moved to third on a groundout by Benjamin. Yan stroked a single to left to score Cruz for an 8-6 Frisco lead.

Frisco had RHP Lou Pote pitch two shutout innings before going to Ingram for a perfect eighth.

Ingram got two quick outs in the ninth inning before Wood cracked an 0-2 fastball over the right field fence to bring the Travs within 8-7. Brown then reached on a bad-hop single to third base, but Ingram whiffed Evans on a high fastball to cinch Frisco's tenth win in 11 games.

Time of game was 3:12 and the paid attendance was 4,673.

Arkansas and Frisco wrap up their three-game series Wednesday night at Ray Winder Field. The Travs plan on RHP Nick Green (7-2, 4.71 ERA) pitching against Frisco's RHP Eric Hurley (1-0, 2.50 ERA). First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. and the gates open at 6:10 p.m.