Round Rock rallies late, walks off Sacramento 6-5

Aaron Zavala turned a tense ninth inning into Round Rock’s first walk-off win of the season, lining a two-run single after the Express loaded the bases and stunned Sacramento 6-5 at Dell Diamond on Wednesday night.

The comeback carried extra weight because Round Rock had spent most of the night chasing the game. The Express had already lost the series opener 9-2 on May 12, and Sacramento looked set to control the rematch after pushing in front late. Instead, Round Rock climbed out of a four-run hole, improved to 1-20 when trailing after seven innings and showed the kind of late-game urgency that can change a clubhouse quickly.

Nick Pratto gave Round Rock the early lead with a solo home run in the third inning, his second homer of the season, but Sacramento answered with a run in the fifth and took a 2-1 lead in the sixth. Buddy Kennedy doubled to start that inning, then scored on Drew Cavanaugh’s sacrifice fly to put the River Cats ahead.

Sacramento seemed to seize control in the eighth when it loaded the bases and Jake Holton cleared them with a three-run double, stretching the lead to 5-1 and putting Round Rock in a tight spot. Trey Supak had already done enough to keep the Express within reach, working six innings, allowing two runs and striking out three without factoring in the decision.

Round Rock made the decisive response in the bottom of the eighth. Michael Helman crushed a three-run home run to pull the Express within one and suddenly make the final inning feel wide open. That swing set up the ninth, when a single, a walk and an error loaded the bases for Zavala, who delivered the winning hit in his pinch-hit role.

The result was Round Rock’s first walk-off victory of 2026 and moved the club to 14-4 when scoring at least five runs. After a night like this, the Express head into Thursday’s 6:45 p.m. CT series finale with a very different tone than the one they carried out of Tuesday’s defeat.