7-2 Take Down of Naturals Is Travs Third Straight
Published on July 18, 2012 under Texas League (TL1)
Arkansas Travelers News Release
Springdale, Arkansas - Darwin Perez and Renny Osuna each collected three base hits to lead the Arkansas Travelers to their third straight win, an 8-2 victory over the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, on Wednesday night at Arvest Ballpark. Perez drove in two runs and scored two more while Osuna drove in three runs. A.J. Schugel (5-7) pitched around seven hits over 5.2 innings for the most part allowing just two runs (one earned) for his second win in a row. The Travs scored five runs in the fifth inning to take control of the game matching their biggest inning of the season.
The win gives the Travs their first series win of the second half and their second road series win of the year. At 12-13 in the second half the Travs remain tied for second place with the Tulsa Drillers 4.5 games behind Springfield. Northwest Arkansas loses for the seventh time took their 15th loss in 16 games.
Schugel was in trouble for most of his night with base runners in all but one inning he pitched. He allowed singles to Yem Prades and Rey Navarro before retiring a batter in the first inning. Brian Fletcher's fielder's choice led to Navarro being forced at second. Then Schugel struck out Johnny Whittleman and got Kevin Kouzmanoff to fly out.
Schugel had retired six straight batters until Alex McClure tripled to start the third and scored when Prades knocked a single to left field giving the Naturals the first run for the third time this series.
Michael Mariot (3-3) didn't allow a runner past first base over four innings, but then the Travs nearly batted around in the fifth inning and took firm control of the game. Casey Haerther hit a leadoff single and advanced to third base when Jimmy Swift hit a one-out double down the third base line. Mariot walked Angel Castillo to load the bases then Perez came to the plate. He had singled in the third inning to break an 0-for-20 slump, and he delivered a two-run double to centerfield on an 0-2 count for a 2-1 Travs lead. Jean Segura then dropped a single to right field to knock in Castillo and Osuna followed with a line drive home run to left field for a 5-1 lead.
Mariot finished six innings but suffered the loss allowing five runs on eight hits and one walk.
Northwest Arkansas eeked out an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth inning as Prades reached third base on a dropped fly ball by Ryan Mount in right field and scored on a groundout by Navarro.
Andrew Taylor relieved Schugel in the sixth inning with men at second and third base with two outs. He struck out Carlo Testa to preserve the lead. Then Taylor produced a shutout seventh inning.
The Travs scored twice off of Bryan Paukovits in the seventh inning on four base hits. Perez hit a one-out double past first base and took third when Segura legged out an infield single. Osuna and Roberto Lopez had back-to-back RBI singles giving the Travs a 7-2 lead.
Carlos Ramirez singled and scored in the eighth inning on a groundout by Segura.
Caleb Graham and Christian Scholl each threw one shutout inning to finish the game.
Time of game was 3:06 and the paid attendance was 2,684.
The Travs now try for their second four-game sweep of the season on Thursday night sending Ariel Pena (5-5, 2.92) to the hill against Mike Montgomery (0-1, 7.50). First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.
Texas League Stories from July 18, 2012
- 7-2 Take Down of Naturals Is Travs Third Straight - Arkansas Travelers
- Tulsa Survives Late Scare to Beat Cards - Tulsa Drillers
- Travelers Trounce Naturals - Northwest Arkansas Naturals
- 'Riders Outlast Missions to Take Game Three - Frisco RoughRiders
- Cardinals Fall to Drillers 6-5 - Springfield Cardinals
- Naturals Player and Mascot to Make Appearance at Bleed Blue Blood Drive - Northwest Arkansas Naturals
- Game Notes, July 18 at Midland - Corpus Christi Hooks
- Ethan Hollingsworth Promoted to AAA - Northwest Arkansas Naturals
- Naturals Announce Arvest Ballpark Video Contest with $1,000 Prize - Northwest Arkansas Naturals
- Hooks Back for Fast Four, Again - Corpus Christi Hooks
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
