Max Wagner had already sent one ball over the wall when the game asked him for something smaller, stranger and just as useful.
With the score tied in the fifth, Keith Jones II at second and Arkansas left-hander Adam Leverett trying to keep the inning from turning, Wagner fought a ball into shallow center. It dropped in front of Jared Sundstrom, Jones broke hard for the plate, and the throw could not beat him. That was enough offense for the RoughRiders, who closed the first half Sunday with a 3-1 win over the Travelers at Riders Field.
Wagner went 2-for-3 with a homer, two RBIs and a run, supplying the first two Frisco runs in a game that was less about a steady barrage than a few clean swings and several well-timed escapes. The RoughRiders finished with three runs on seven hits and no errors, and Arkansas managed one run on six hits with two errors.
The first run came in the third, when Wagner lifted his sixth homer of the season to left-center. It was his second straight day with a home run, and it gave Frisco a 1-0 lead against Leverett after the Riders had missed an early chance in the first.
Arkansas answered immediately. Hunter Fitz-Gerald, who had doubled off Jordan Montgomery in the first inning before being stranded, led off the fourth against Dylan MacLean with a long solo homer to right-center. The ball left little suspense, carrying over the Lazy River to tie the game at 1-1. Fitz-Gerald accounted for the Travelers’ only run and finished with both a homer and a double.
That could have become a bigger Arkansas push an inning later. Charlie Pagliarini drove a ball to center in the fifth, where Orlando Martinez chased it all the way to the fence. Pagliarini tried to stretch the double into third, but the relay came in from Martinez to Wagner to Rafe Perich, who put down the tag. In a 1-1 game, it cut off a potential go-ahead runner before he could force MacLean to pitch from more trouble.
Frisco took advantage in the bottom half. Jones singled to center, and Wagner followed with the soft RBI single that put the Riders back in front for good. Frainyer Chavez added another hit in the inning, but Leverett kept it at 2-1 by getting the final out. Leverett took the loss after allowing two earned runs in five innings.
MacLean did the heavier lifting from there. After Montgomery opened the day with one scoreless rehab inning and one strikeout, MacLean took over in the second and worked 5.1 innings, allowing one earned run. He improved to 5-0, pitching past Fitz-Gerald’s homer and keeping the Riders in front until the bullpen could take the last eight outs.
His final trouble came in the seventh. Connor Charping flew out, but Aaron McKeithan walked and Josh Hood followed with a ground ball that deflected on the left side, leaving two on with one out. Eric Loomis needed one pitch to end it. Jared Sundstrom grounded into a double play, Wagner handling the turn as Hood was erased at second and Sundstrom at first. Loomis recorded his third hold with two-thirds of a scoreless inning.
The bullpen did not let the lead breathe much after that. Josh Trentadue struck out all three batters he retired in a scoreless eighth, taking care of Bill Knight, Pagliarini and Caleb Cali in order. Joey Danielson had to pitch around Charping being hit by a pitch and McKeithan’s soft single in the ninth, but he struck out two and finished Josh Hood with a called third strike for his first save of the season.
Frisco gave Danielson a little more room before he entered. Chavez, who went 2-for-2 with two walks and scored a run, drew a leadoff walk in the eighth against Brock Moore. After Perich struck out, Martinez shot a ground ball back up the middle, bringing Chavez home for a 3-1 lead. Martinez finished 1-for-4 with the RBI.
It was the kind of finish that fit the day: Wagner provided the early and middle offense, Chavez kept finding ways on base, and the bullpen turned a one-run game into a quiet handshake line.