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TL1 Northwest Arkansas Naturals

Bats Bust out 17 Hits in 10-4 Triumph over Travs

May 5, 2018 - Texas League (TL1)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release


NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The Naturals bust out a season-high 17 hits in a 10-4 drubbing of the Arkansas Travelers at Dickey-Stephens Park on Saturday night. Five of the nine in the order collected multiple hits in the affair.

Northwest Arkansas (10-18) ignited the offensive attack in the opening frame putting up three runs in the opening frame, highlighted by a two-run home run by Samir Duenez, his fourth of the season. The Naturals added to the lead with two more runs in the fourth inning on a pair of infield, RBI single by Donnie Dewees and Erick Mejia to make it a 5-0 lead in the fourth.

After the two sides traded runs in the middle innings, the Naturals took a 6-4 lead entering the top of the seventh and tacked on more runs via a run-scoring single by Dewees and a base-hit by Nicky Lopez to take an 8-4 advantage. Two more runs scored in the ninth to aid the offensive cause with Mejia driving in his second run of the night and Dini doing the same on a sacrifice fly.

The top three hitters in the order - Dewees, Mejia and Lopez - combined for nine hits in 15 at-bats with five runs batted in and six runs scored. The trio collected two extra-base hits with Dewees recording his league-leading fourth triple of the season Lopez tabbing his first double of the year.

John Brontsema collected his first three-hit night of the season including his first double while scoring a pair of runs in the effort. Duenez finished the night 2-for-5 with a pair of runs batted in due to his first inning homer. Lopez finished 3-for-4 on the night with two more walks, pushing his season total to 17 base on balls - good for third most in the Texas League.

Right-hander, Zach Lovvorn started for the Naturals and worked 4.1 innings of three run baseball before handing over the ball in the fifth inning with the bases loaded to reliever, Yunior Marte. Marte (1-1, 3.44) tossed 1.2 innings, allowed one run on one hit with a strike out.

Franco Terrero worked 2.0 innings of shutout relief with a pair of strikeouts before right-hander, Jake Newberry accrued the final three outs in the ninth inning.

Northwest Arkansas hit 6-for-15 with men in scoring position while the pitching staff held the Travelers to a paltry 1-for-14 in the same category.

Right-hander, Scott Blewett (1-2, 4.97) will take the hill in the second game of the four-game set on Sunday afternoon with a 2:10 p.m. first pitch. Right-hander Johendi Jiminian (1-1, 2.05) is slated to start for the Travelers.

Join the Voice of the Naturals, Benjamin Kelly, with a 1:50 p.m. pregame show leading up to first pitch on 92.1-FM the Ticket and the Naturals Radio Network.

Follow the Northwest Arkansas Naturals on Facebook and Twitter @NWANaturals all throughout the year by using the hashtag #NaturalPastime and #CrowntoCrown for all of our up-to-date information on the 2018 season of Naturals baseball.

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are the Double-A Texas League Affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. The Naturals play at state-of-the-art Arvest Ballpark in Springdale, Ark. For more information, including statistics, ticket options, and more, please visit NWANaturals.com, and follow us on Twitter @NWANaturals and Facebook.com/Naturals.

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Texas League Stories from May 5, 2018


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.

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