TL1 Northwest Arkansas Naturals

Big Inning Helps Naturals Defeat Travelers

Published on June 14, 2015 under Texas League (TL1)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release


SPRINGDALE, Ark. - Northwest Arkansas (37-25) defeated the Arkansas Travelers (31-30) on Sunday afternoon by the score of 9-6 behind a five run fifth inning. The win improved the Naturals season record over the Travelers to 10-0 and 6-0 at home and extended their lead to 5.5 games in the Texas League North Division with eight games left to play in the first half of the season.

Trailing 4-2 entering the bottom of the fifth, Northwest Arkansas took the lead for good on a two out rally. Alex Liddi started the rally with a single to left and Jorge Bonifacio followed with his tenth home run of the season on a 1-0 pitch to tie the game at 4-4. Balbino Fuenmayor then singled and Hunter Dozier and Bubba Starling both walked to load the bases for Zane Evans, who would single to right field to score Fuenmayor and Dozier and give the Naturals their first lead of the game at 6-4. Kenny Diekroeger capped off a five run inning with a RBI single of his own to score Starling to make it a 7-4 ballgame.

Pitching was dominant in the first couple of innings as the game remained scoreless into the third before the Travelers jumped on the board first in the top half of the inning behind a Jared Mitchell solo home run, his first of the season, to give the Travs a 1-0 lead.

The Naturals would immediately tie the game in the bottom half of the inning. Terrance Gore got the frame started with a one out single to left field and the Naturals took advantage of three consecutive walks by Travelers starter RHP Kyle McGowin to even the score at 1-1. Terrance Gore and Lane Adams would pull off a double steal in the inning, their 24th and 10th respective stolen base on the year.

Arkansas would steal back the lead in the top of the fourth inning. Anthony Bemboom hit a sacrifice fly with one out to score Brian Hernandez, who had walked to lead off the inning and moved to third on a Blake Gailen double, to give the Travelers a 2-1 advantage. Hunter Dozier, the Naturals' third baseman, provided the response in the home half of the inning as he launched his fourth home run of the season on the first pitch he saw into the Bud Light Bullpen Café to even the game back up at 2-2.

The back-and-forth game continued as the Travelers took the lead again in the top half of the fifth inning when Sherman Johnson doubled to right field to score Jared Mitchell, and Brian Hernandez singled with one out to score Johnson to give Arkansas a 4-2 lead.

After the Naturals retook the lead with their big fifth inning they would go on to score one more run in the bottom of the sixth inning and another in the bottom of the eighth inning to extend their lead to 9-4. The Travelers would rally with two runs in the top of the ninth but ultimately would fall short at 9-6. LHP Daniel Stumpf (4-2 3.60 ERA) got the win in relief while Kyle McGowin (4-4, 5.57) received the loss. Leading the Naturals' offense with multi-hit games were Alex Liddi, Balbino Fuenmayor, Hunter Dozier, and Terrance Gore.

Northwest Arkansas will continue their series against the Arkansas Travelers tomorrow night with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at Arvest Ballpark.  The Naturals will send RHP Christian Binford (0-2, 6.83 ERA) to the mound to square off against RHP Albert Suarez (6-4, 2.83 ERA) of the Travelers. Every Monday night at Arvest Ballpark is Monday Night Lights presented by Ozarks Electric Cooperative featuring $1 Hot Dogs courtesy of Tyson Foods and Indigo Sky Casino Baseball Bingo.

You can catch all the live play-by-play action with the Voice of the Naturals Benjamin Kelly on your home for Naturals baseball on KQSM 92.1 The Ticket at 6:50 p.m. for the Indigo Sky Casino Pregame Show leading up to the game against Arkansas.

Follow the Northwest Arkansas Naturals on Twitter @nwanaturals all throughout the year by using the hashtag #NaturalPastime for all of our up-to-date information on tickets, groups, promotions, roster, and team information.

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.

Check out the Northwest Arkansas Naturals Statistics

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Texas League Stories from June 14, 2015


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