TL1 Northwest Arkansas Naturals

Drillers Use Four-Run Sixth to Doom Naturals

Published on June 16, 2018 under Texas League (TL1)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release


TULSA, Okla. - All it took for the Drillers on Saturday night was two pitches in the sixth inning. Jacob Scavuzzo hit a three-run home run off starter, Foster Griffin, and DJ Peters followed up on the next offering with a solo shot to rightfield to catalyze Tulsa to a 4-3 win at ONEOK Field. Northwest Arkansas falls to two games back of First Place in the North Division with two games remaining in the half.

Griffin (3-7, 5.71) pitched brilliantly through the first five innings. The southpaw allowed just four hits through the first five and posted a streak of six straight hitters retired in the fourth and fifth frames. But the third time through the line-up proved to be fatal for Griffin as the Drillers used the long ball to take the lead.

Northwest Arkansas (33-35) scored in the first inning on a sacrifice fly by Nicky Lopez and tacked on a second run in the fifth inning. John Brontsema tripled up the leftfield line and scored on a ground out by Donnie Dewees.

Jecksson Flores hit a solo home run in the ninth inning off reliever, Dylan Baker, to pull the Naturals within a run. Nick Dini singled as the next man up and Brontsema walked; but closer, Brian Moran threw one pitch to notch the save, retiring Dewees for the final out.

The Naturals conclude the first half of play with the first two games of the four game set against the Arkansas Travelers (35-33), trailing by two games in the standings. Right-hander, Zach Lovvorn (4-3, 5.40) will take the mound in the must-win game against right-hander, Chase De Jong (4-3, 4.03) countering for the Travelers. First pitch at Arvest Ballpark on Sunday afternoon will be at 2:05 with gates opening at 1:00 for the Father's Day matinee.

Join the Voice of the Naturals, Benjamin Kelly, for a 1:45 p.m. pregame show leading up to the 2:05 p.m. first pitch on AM-1590, the Ticket-2.

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.

Check out the Northwest Arkansas Naturals Statistics

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Texas League Stories from June 16, 2018


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