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TL1 Northwest Arkansas Naturals

Drillers Sweep Naturals in Double-Header

April 27, 2018 - Texas League (TL1)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release


TULSA, Okla. - Northwest Arkansas concluded the club's seven-day, six-game road trip with a double-header at ONEOK Field on Friday night. The Naturals played the Drillers to a pair of one-run decisions, but dropped both contests by scores of 6-5 and 2-1. Northwest Arkansas finished 0-6 on the trip.

In game one, the Naturals trailed 4-0 entering the top of the fifth inning when the bats were sparked. Catcher, Luis Villegas, drove a 2-0 pitch over the left-field fence, pulling the Naturals within a 4-3 score. Following a base hit by Erick Mejia, two batters later Elier Hernandez dropped a single into left to make it a 4-3 game.

Tulsa responded with a run in the ensuing bottom of the fifth; but Villegas struck again in the sixth. Four straight singles opened the sixth inning with Villegas shooting a base knock up the middle to score Anderson Miller from third base. Drillers' centerfielder, DJ Peters, bobbled the ball allowing Alex Liddi to streak home from second to score the tying run.

But the Drillers loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh frame and Errol Robinson came through with a two-out single to give Tulsa a walk-off win.

In the night cap, Glenn Sparkman stole the show early facing the minimum through the first four frames before the Drillers' bats came to life.

The Drillers loaded the bases twice in the fifth inning and all Sparkman allowed was a pair of sacrifice flies, putting Tulsa in front, 2-0.

Northwest Arkansas finally broke the scoreboard in the sixth inning following 5.1 innings of being no-hit. Samir Duenez clocked his third home run of the season - second homer of the road trip - over the right-field wall to pull the Naturals within a tally.

Sparkman finished 5.2 innings, allowed two runs on seven hits with six strikeouts. It marked the third straight start in which Sparkman has fanned six batters in a game.

The Naturals (6-13) will return to Arvest Ballpark on Saturday, April 28 to begin a brief two-game set against the Tulsa Drillers (12-8) with a 6:05 p.m. first pitch. Northwest Arkansas has spent 15 of the last 17 days away from home.

Left-hander, Foster Griffin (1-2, 4.15 ERA) takes the ball for his fifth start of the season against right-hander, Dennis Santana (0-1, 1.50 ERA) opposite for the Drillers.

Join the Voice of the Naturals, Benjamin Kelly, with a 5:50 p.m. pregame show leading up to first pitch on AM-1590 the Ticket-2 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/

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Texas League Stories from April 27, 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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