FRISCO, Texas (Interstat) — The Midland RockHounds erupted for five runs in the first two innings and then held off a late rally by the Frisco RoughRiders to secure a 5-4 victory Wednesday night at Riders Field, splitting the early-season series between the Texas League rivals.

The RockHounds, avenging a 9-1 loss from the previous night, improved to 4-1, while the RoughRiders fell to an identical 4-1 mark. The game time was 2 hours, 51 minutes before an announced crowd of 2,600.

Midland’s offense came early and powerfully against Frisco starter Blake Townsend. After a leadoff groundout in the first, Leo De Vries worked a walk. Third baseman Tommy White then launched a two-run homer to left-center field, giving the RockHounds a quick lead they would not relinquish.

The second inning proved even more damaging for Townsend and the RoughRiders. Brayan Buelvas led off with a solo shot to left-center, and two batters later, Cameron Leary followed with a solo homer to left. After two strikeouts, Joshua Kuroda-Grauer capped the explosive frame with another solo home run to left field, making it 5-0 and chasing Townsend from the game.

From there, the contest transformed into a battle of bullpens. Midland starter James Gonzalez, who earned the win to move to 1-0, navigated through traffic over four innings. He allowed one run on four hits, stranding multiple runners. The lone run against him came in the fourth when Julian Brock doubled and scored on Tucker Mitchell’s RBI double.

The RoughRiders, who out-hit Midland 10-7, chipped away at the deficit in the seventh. Frainyer Chavez doubled and scored on Dylan Dreiling’s single. After a single moved Dreiling to third, Brock brought him home with a sacrifice fly to right, cutting the lead to 5-3.

Frisco mounted a serious threat in the ninth against Midland closer Shohei Tomioka. Chavez led off with a walk and was forced out at second, but a single by Dreiling and a fielding error by White at third put runners at second and third with one out. Tomioka struck out Julian Brock swinging for the second out, bringing John Taylor to the plate. Taylor popped up to White at third base, but the ball was misplayed for an error, allowing a run to score and moving the potential tying run to second base. Tomioka regrouped and induced another pop-up from Taylor, this time handled cleanly by White to end the game and earn Tomioka his second save of the season.

The most important part of the game was Tomioka’s tense finish in the ninth inning. After an error extended the inning and allowed a run to score, bringing the tying run into scoring position, he maintained his composure. Striking out Brock and finally securing the game-ending pop-up from Taylor amidst the defensive miscue showcased the closer’s ability to work through adversity and preserve the narrow victory.

Townsend took the loss for Frisco, falling to 0-1 after surrendering all five Midland runs on four hits, including three home runs, in just 1 2/3 innings. The RoughRiders’ bullpen combination of Ricardo Velez, Jonathan Brand, and Bryan Magdaleno provided 7 1/3 innings of scoreless, three-hit relief to keep the game within reach.

The RockHounds’ bullpen, featuring Wei-En Lin, A.J. Causey, and CD Pelham in addition to Tomioka, combined for five innings of work, allowing three runs on six hits to seal the win.

Both teams continue their series Thursday night in Frisco.