TL1 Tulsa Drillers

Drillers Offense Quieted in 2-0 Loss to Naturals

Published on May 20, 2016 under Texas League (TL1)
Tulsa Drillers News Release


The Tulsa Drillers came into Friday night's contest feeling pretty good about themselves, having won 11 of their last 15 ballgames. But Tulsa's struggles against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals this season continued as the Naturals defeated the Drillers 2-0 at Arvest Ballpark.

With the loss to the Naturals, the Drillers have now lost 7 of the 8 games against their North Division rivals this year.

One night after picking up ten extra base hits in a 10-2 win at Springfield, the Drillers did not record anything beyond single base hits Friday. It was a shame that Tulsa's offense was subdued as starting pitcher Brock Stewart turned in a fine outing for the Drillers.

Utilizing a delivery that was as smooth as butter, Stewart racked up nine strikeouts over his six innings of work. The nine punch outs marked an individual high for any Drillers pitcher in a single game this season.

Despite the high strikeout total, Stewart did have to maneuver around multiple base runners throughout the night.

In the first inning, the Naturals had a runner on third with just one out but were unable to score as Stewart struck out Ryan O'Hearn and got Orlando Calixte to ground out to end the threat.

Following a scoreless second inning, NW Arkansas did manage to scratch across a run in the home half of the third inning.

Logan Moon led off with a double before moving to third on a groundout. He then scampered home to score on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Ramon Torres to put the Naturals on top 1-0.

The Naturals threatened again in the fourth as they loaded the bases on two singles and a walk with two outs. But Stewart did his best impersonation of a child hopping around puddles of water as he avoided the predicament with a strikeout of Moon to keep the Drillers close.

Unfortunately though, the Drillers had a tough time stringing any hits together against Naturals spot starter Benino Pruneda and reliever Evan Beal over the first six innings of the night.

Facing NW Arkansas reliever Kyle Bartsch in the eighth inning, Tulsa threatened to tie things up or even take the lead as Kyle Farmer and Cody Bellinger hit back-to-back singles with two outs. A walk to Willie Calhoun loaded the bases and prompted the Naturals to call in their closer, Kevin McCarthy.

Jacob Scavuzzo did all he could do by lining a sharp line drive into the right center field gap, but NW Arkansas right fielder Orlando Calixte made a fantastic running catch to end the inning and preserve the Naturals advantage.

The catch seemed to spark the home club as they loaded the bases themselves in the bottom half of the eighth against Tulsa's Ralston Cash with no one out. Manager Ryan Garko then called on southpaw Michael Johnson to try and put out the fire.

Although the Naturals plated a run on a sacrifice fly by Zane Evans, that would be all they would get as Johnson kept the game close, sending the game into the ninth with the Drillers down just 2-0.

But it would not matter in the end as the Drillers went down in order in the top of the ninth.

Stewart suffered the tough luck loss for Tulsa while Beal earned his first victory of the season for NW Arkansas with his three innings of scoreless relief. McCarthy was credited with his seventh save of the year, thanks in large part to Calixte's catch that ended the eighth.

The Drillers and Naturals will continue their series Saturday night. RHP Jeremy Kehrt (0-0, 0.00 ERA) will make his first start of the season for Tulsa after beginning the year with the Oklahoma City Dodgers. He will be opposed by LHP Eric Skoglund (1-1, 4.93 ERA) for NW Arkansas. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 PM in Springdale.

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Texas League Stories from May 20, 2016


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