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TL1 Northwest Arkansas Naturals

Dziedzic Dazzles as Naturals Win Finale, 9-5

July 18, 2015 - Texas League (TL1)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release


SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - For the second straight night, the Naturals received strong starting pitching and quality play on offense and defense as left-hander Jonathan Dziedzic set the tone with seven punch outs in six innings of work in the 9-5 win on Saturday night at Hammons Field.

The 24-year old left-hander did exactly what Northwest Arkansas (47-44/7-14) needed after the offense exploded early in the game and that was to throw up zeros. Dziedzic (5-6, 3.77) struck out the side in the second inning, gave up a lead-off homer to Charlie Tilson in the third; but went on to retire the next seven batters in a row.

The offense backed the efforts of Dziedzic early on with outfielder Bubba Starling clubbing his fifth home run of the season on Springfield's starter Mike Mayers (1-4, 6.47) fifth pitch of the game to give the Naturals a 1-0 lead. After Alex Liddi drew a two-out walk, Hunter Dozier belted his eighth big fly of the season to extend the advantage to 3-0.

Frank Schwindel blasted his first career Double-A home run to begin the second inning while the offense continued to pile on the runs in the third with Lane Adams tallying an RBI double and Parker Morin drove home a pair with a two-out single to make it a 7-0 ball game.

Dziedzic worked through 6.0 innings, allowed two runs on six hits while tying a season-high with seven strikeouts to earn his first win since June 17.

The offense tacked on another run in the fifth as Morin drove home his third two-out RBI of the night with a single to right and Raul Mondesi singled up the middle to plate Kenny Diekgroeger in the eighth inning to assure the win for the Naturals.

Schwindel finished the night 2-for-5 with a home run while Morin ended his night 2-for-3 with three RBI and a walk. Eight of the starting nine players in the Naturals lineup recorded at least one hit.

The three home runs tonight by the Naturals make it 27 total homers against the Cardinals in 20 games played. They hold an 12-8 record against Springfield this season.

Northwest Arkansas heads home for a four-game series against the Tulsa Drillers (Los Angeles Dodgers) as right-hander Luke Farrell (1-2, 3.72) toes the slab against veteran right-hander Jeremy Kehrt (5-6, 3.61) for the Drillers.

Tune in with the Voice of the Naturals, Benjamin Kelly, at 5:50 p.m. for the Indigo Sky Casino Pregame Show leading up to the 6:05 p.m. first pitch on the Naturals flagship station, 92.1 - FM, the Ticket.

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

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Texas League Stories from July 18, 2015


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