SUGAR LAND, Texas (Interstat) — The Las Vegas Aviators defeated the Sugar Land Space Cowboys 7-5 on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, at Constellation Field in a Pacific Coast League (AAA) game. Las Vegas improved to 85-57, while Sugar Land fell to 71-73. The game drew 3,039 fans and lasted 2 hours, 53 minutes. Las Vegas finished with seven hits, and Sugar Land had five. The Aviators won the first three games of the series after taking the previous two meetings by 5-0 and 5-2 scores.

Las Vegas built its advantage early. After Sugar Land took a first-inning lead on Jason Schiavone’s RBI double that scored Cavan Biggio, the Aviators answered in the second. Bryan Lavastida lined a single to left that scored Devin Taylor, and Colby Halter followed with a ground-ball single to right that brought home Jack Winkler. Cole Conn then hit a two-run homer to right, scoring Halter, as Las Vegas moved ahead 5-1. Conn finished 1-for-4 with the home run and two RBIs. Lavastida went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Halter also stole second base in the inning.

Sugar Land chipped away. Pascanel Ferreras grounded out to third in the third to score César Salazar, cutting the deficit to 5-2. Las Vegas added a run in the fifth when Devin Taylor reached on a fielding error by second baseman Trevor Austin, allowing Cole Conn to score. Brice Matthews answered with a sacrifice fly to center in the bottom of the fifth that scored Salazar and made it 6-3. Salazar reached base three times and scored three runs for Sugar Land.

Sugar Land pulled closer in the seventh. Salazar singled, Lucas Spence walked and Ferreras walked to load the bases. After two strikeouts, Zach Cole reached on a fielding error by second baseman Jack Winkler that allowed Salazar and Spence to score, trimming the Las Vegas lead to 6-5. Collin Price struck out swinging to end the inning. Spence doubled in the third, walked in the seventh and scored once, while Cole doubled in the fourth.

Las Vegas restored a two-run cushion in the ninth. Jared Dickey doubled to right, and after a strikeout, Brayan Buelvas doubled sharply to center to score Dickey for a 7-5 lead. Johnathan Rodríguez walked, but Devin Taylor grounded out to second to end the inning. Jared Johnson retired Sugar Land in order in the bottom of the ninth to seal the win. Buelvas’s double gave him the final RBI of the night.

Matt Sauer earned the win for Las Vegas, allowing two earned runs on four hits over five innings with three strikeouts. He improved to 1-3. Wander Suero pitched 1 1/3 hitless innings with one strikeout. Luis Morales struck out four over 1 2/3 innings, giving up one hit. Jared Johnson worked a hitless ninth for his second save. Bryce Mayer took the loss for Sugar Land, falling to 6-5. Christian Roa, Logan VanWey, Alimber Santa and Kai-Wei Teng each pitched a scoreless inning of relief for Sugar Land, with Roa striking out two and VanWey and Santa each adding one strikeout. Teng also struck out one.

Las Vegas pitchers combined for 29 strikes, 54 balls and 29 balls in play. Sugar Land pitchers combined for 15 strikes, 62 balls and 15 balls in play. The Aviators finished with seven hits, while the Space Cowboys had five. Sugar Land got a double from Schiavone, a double from Cole, a single and walk from Collin Price, and walks from Salazar, Spence and Ferreras. Las Vegas also received a walk from Darell Hernaiz and Rodríguez.

The Interstat game simulator projected a final score of Las Vegas 7, Sugar Land 2. Interstat’s ELO system gave Las Vegas a 51.9 percent probability to win. Las Vegas and Sugar Land continue the series Friday at Constellation Field.