Article By:

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas -- K.C. Huth hit his third homer of the year and the Cleburne Railroaders beat the Texas AirHogs 5-2 at AirHogs Stadium on Saturday night.

Huth’s homer came on the first pitch of a two-run fifth inning in which Cleburne (46-52) took the lead for good. Geraldo Valentin also drove in his fifth run of the series with a two-out single in the inning.

The AirHogs took a lead in the first inning before Nick Van Stratten worked a two-out, bases-loaded walk to the tie the game in the third.

Texas (42-56) scored again in the fifth, but Cleburne added insurance runs in the seventh and the ninth innings and won to clinch sole possession of second place in the South Division in 2017.

Huth finished 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored, and Van Stratten reached three times with two RBI.

Blake Grant-Parks hit his second ground-rule double in as many nights in the eighth inning, while Mitch Glasser went 1-for-3 with two walks, an RBI and a run scored.

Cleburne starter Will Mathis (1-1) gave up two runs with eight strikeouts over five innings of a spot start, and the Railroader bullpen combined for four scoreless innings. Cleburne struck out 12 batters and issued just one walk.

AirHogs starter Calvin Drummond (7-4) gave up four runs over 7.1 innings, and lost for the second time in as many starts against the Railroaders.

Game 3 of the four-game series is set for 6:05 p.m. on Sunday evening. The game will be carried on the Railroader Radio Network with pregame coverage starting 20 minutes prior.