RoughRiders drop two of three to open 2013 season

A professional season may rely more on how you finish, but most teams would still prefer to get off to a good start.

That wasn't the case for the Frisco RoughRiders, who opened the 2013 campaign by dropping two of three games to the Travelers in Arkansas.

After the first attempt to start the season was rained out on Thursday, the Riders lost the first game of a season-opening doubleheader 7-0, as the Travelers got four runs in the fourth inning off Cody Buckel and never looked back.

Buckel allowed all seven runs in less than three innings, giving up five hits and walking five. He loaded the bases to start the game, as the first out he recorded still resulted in a run. A grounder to short got the second out at the plate, but then Randal Grichuk cranked out a three-run homer.

Three more runs came in the third, including a two-run hit from Jett Bandy that knocked Buckel out of the game.

Jarrett Grube, on the other hand, allowed only one hit while striking out seven in just over six innings. Buddy Boshers got the final outs of the seven-inning game.

Frisco's starting pitching struggled again in the second game, as Ryan Feierabend allowed three runs on six hits in four innings. But a four-run sixth inning allowed the Riders to rally from down 3-1 to win 6-3.

New Frisco catcher Tomas Telis drove in three runs with a bases-loaded that broke the 3-3 tie in the sixth. The Riders had tied the game on a bases-loaded walk from Ryan Strausborger prior to the hit.

Guilder Rodriguez drove in two, including a home run.

On Saturday, in a back-and-forth affair, the Riders could not hold onto a 3-2 lead late and lost 4-3 in 10 innings.

Frisco scored in the first with Brett Nicholas driving in Rodriguez, but the Travelers got two in the fourth off Neil Ramirez and Jake Brigham, scoring the go-ahead run on a bases-loaded walk.

Frisco came back with two in the seventh, taking the lead on an error from Rolando Gomez. But an RBI double from C. J. Cron off Ross Wolf tied the game in the eighth.

Then, Jimmy Swift led off the 10th with a hit, moved to second on Travis Witherspoon's bunt and scored on Matt Long's hit to end it.

The RoughRiders will now open a three-game set in Northwest Arkansas starting Sunday before opening at Dr. Pepper Ballpark on Thursday.