Drillers Fall for First Time in Second Half 7-1
June 24, 2016 - Texas League (TL1)
Tulsa Drillers News Release
In two of the first three games to start the second half of the Texas League season, the Tulsa Drillers found a way to rally from early deficits to come-from-behind and earn a victory. But they were not able to duplicate those performances Friday night as the Northwest Arkansas Naturals jumped out to an early lead before cruising to a 7-1 victory over the Drillers in front of sellout crowd of 8,012 at ONEOK Field.
The Tulsa lineup came into the game hitting to the tune of .311 as a club while averaging over five runs per game over the last 5 contests. But the Drillers bats were quieted Friday as the Naturals dealt the home team their first loss of the second half.
Tulsa starter Tim Shibuya prepares to fire to first Friday night before a sellout crowd at ONEOK Field. (Rich Crimi)
Tulsa starter Tim Shibuya worked around a leadoff double by Corey Toups in the top of the first to keep the Naturals off the scoreboard, but he would not be as fortunate moving forward.
Following a scoreless bottom half of the first for Tulsa, Northwest Arkansas first baseman Frank Schwindel got things going in the second with a leadoff double. He moved to third on a groundout before Shibuya hit Carlos Garcia with a pitch to put runners on the corners with just one out. Logan Moon singled home Schwindel for the first run of the game before Jack Lopez launched a three-run homer over the left field fence to put the Naturals in front 4-0.
The Drillers whittled down the deficit in the third inning thanks to a pair of errors by Lopez at shortstop.
Jordan Tarsovich reached safely to start the frame when Lopez could not cleanly field a grounder up the middle. After moving to second on a Drew Maggi sacrifice bunt, Tarsovich came around to score when Lopez threw wildly to first on a groundball off the bat of Brandon Trinkwon. The unearned run brought the Drillers to within 4-1, but that would be as close as they would get.
The Naturals added a run in the fourth on three singles and a double play groundout before Schwindel added to the visitor's advantage with a solo shot in the fifth inning. The offensive output put Northwest Arkansas firmly on top 6-1.
Schwindel continued his big night at the plate in the eighth inning as he hit his second solo home run of the night, this one off reliever Michael Johnson, as he increased the Naturals lead to 7-1. The two drives were Schwindel's tenth and eleventh homers of the year as the slugger finished 3-4 on the night.
On the mound, Naturals starter Eric Skoglund turned in his best performance of the season as the southpaw held the Drillers to just the single unearned run. Skoglund scattered four hits while striking out five Tulsa batters over his seven innings of work. The left-hander improved his record to 4-5 on the year after earning the victory.
Shibuya took the loss for Tulsa after allowing the six runs over his six innings of work. Aron Nina worked the final two innings for Norwest Arkansas while Johnson and Daniel Corcino finished the game for the Drillers.
Alex Verdugo was the only Driller to finish with a multi-hit game as he went 2-4 on the night. The Naturals lineup on the other hand, had five batters turn in a multi-hit performance with all but Ryan O'Hearn collecting at least one hit.
The Drillers will look to get back to their winning ways Saturday evening as RHP Chase De Jong (7-4, 2.64 ERA) will take the ball for Tulsa. He will be opposed by RHP Ashton Goudeau (2-4, 2.97 ERA) for Northwest Arkansas. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM with a Tulsa's Channel 8 Grand Slam Saturday Fireworks Show to take place following the game.
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