Strykers: Burgess' 7 RBI pins loss on Marshals

MCKINNEY, Texas – Carter Burgess hits clean-up for a reason.

The Woodlands Strykers’ shortstop collected three hits Sunday (3-for-6), including a homer and a double, and drove in seven runs in a 15-9 win over the McKinney Marshals.

Burgess delivered a grand slam home run in an eight-run second inning and then smacked a two-run double to spark a four-run sixth inning as the Strykers gained a split of their two-game road series with McKinney. The big RBI night propelled Burgess to second in the Texas Collegiate League with 34. His five homers this season is also second in the league. Teammate Michael Aquino leads the league with eight homers.

Rickey Sanchez added two hits (2-for-5) to lift his batting average for the season to .315, which ranks third in the league behind Aquino (.329), who went 1-for-5 on Sunday with a run scored, and league-leading Doug Votolato (.330) of the Alexandria Aces.

Gabe Fyock (2-for-5) led off the fourth inning with his first homer of the season. It was the only other RBI of the night for the Strykers besides the seven from Sanchez, although eight different players scored runs and eight different players shared in the 13-hit attack.

Shaun Hoover added two (2-for-4) of those while Garrett Lozano, Brian Brightwell and Dan Perkins rounded out that group with one apiece.

Matt Johnson (1-1) picked up the win in relief. Johnson went six innings, his longest stint in eight appearances this season. He scattered seven hits and yielded three earned runs while striking out a batter.

Strykers starter Cameron Walker worked the first three innings.

The Strykers (15-29) return home for a 7:05 p.m. Monday encounter with the league-leading East Texas Pump Jacks (33-14). The Strykers host Alexandria at 5:05 p.m. Tuesday to complete the two-game homestand.