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TL1 Northwest Arkansas Naturals

Late Rally Falls Short in 3-2 Loss at Arkansas

September 7, 2015 - Texas League (TL1)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release


NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - It has been determined: with a 3-2 Naturals' loss at Dickey-Stephens Park on Monday afternoon, the Arkansas Travelers clinch the second half of the North Division and will play Northwest Arkansas in the best of five North Division Championship series beginning on Wednesday, Sept. 9 at Arvest Ballpark.

Northwest Arkansas (69-70) rallied in the ninth inning getting a lead-off double by Bubba Starling followed by a single by Hunter Dozier off Travelers' closer, Greg Mahle. The left-hander picked off Dozier - who represented the tying run - at first base and Zane Evans promptly followed with a double to trim the Naturals' deficit to 3-2. That ended up all the closer Northwest Arkansas got as the Travelers held on for the win and the second half title.

The Naturals opened the scoring in the top of the first off all-star right-hander Albert Suarez. Outfielder Lane Adams coaxed a walk with two outs and immediately stole second base. The Red Oak, Okla. native scored two pitches later as Alex Liddi flopped a two-out double into shallow rightfield to put the Natural in front, 1-0. The double for Liddi is his 39th of the season, giving the second most two-baggers in a single-season in Naturals history.

Arkansas (71-68) tied the game using a Paul Clemens wild pitch in the bottom of the first inning. That scored held over the next three innings.

Newly added left-hander Eric Stout entered for his Double-A debut in the third inning and faced the minimum in his opening frame and worked out of trouble in the fourth to keep it a 1-1 game. But Arkansas rallied in the fifth using three hits to plate two runs to take a 3-1 lead.

Suarez (11-9, 2.98) allowed one run over his six innings of work with six strikeouts while Stout took the loss working 2.1 innings in his Naturals' debut.

The Naturals end the regular season with a 69-70 record and prepare for their journey towards a Texas League Championship playing postseason baseball for the first time since 2011.

Game one belongs to All-Star left-hander Jonathan Dziedzic who won 10 games in the regular season and posted a the third lowest ERA of 3.12 in the Texas League. The Travelers have not announced their probables for the series. Right-hander Luke Farrell goes in game two and right-hander Brooks Pounders will take the baseball for game three.

The opening two games will be at Arvest Ballpark while game three and, if necessary, games four and five will be played at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock, Ark.

Tune in with the Voice of the Naturals, Benjamin Kelly, for the Indigo Sky Casino Pregame Show at 6:50 leading up to first pitch of game one on Wednesday, Sept. 9 on the flagship station of the Naturals, 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 September 7, 2015


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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