Midland Doubles-Up Naturals 10-5 to Open 2015
Published on April 10, 2015 under Texas League (TL1)
Midland RockHounds News Release
MIDLAND, Tex. - The defending Texas League champions began their quest for back-to-back titles successfully, as the Midland RockHounds topped the Northwest Arkansas Naturals 10-5 on Thursday night at Security Bank Ballpark.
The RockHounds' offense was on display in multiple ways as they drew 13 walks, but also had six of its nine hits go for extra bases.
Midland (1-0) jumped on the board right away in the bottom of the first. A one-out double by Colin Walsh led the way for Matt Olson, who blasted a two-run homer to right center.
The Naturals (0-1) would get one of those runs back in the top of the second on a two-out, solo homer by Mike Bianucci off of RockHounds' starting pitcher Zach Neal.
Bruce Maxwell drew a walk to start the second for the RockHounds and two batters later, Carson Blair doubled to left field to put two on with one out.
Chad Oberacker then took the first pitch he saw from Northwest Arkansas starting pitcher Miguel Almonte and sailed it to the wall in center field, to clear the bases for a triple and give the RockHounds a 4-1 lead.
The Naturals cut that lead in half thanks to a sacrifice fly off the bat of Angel Franco in the top of the fourth. That would be the last run that Neal would allow as he went five innings and gave up just the two runs on six hits and one walk. He struck out three on 76 pitches with 55 of those being strikes.
Back-to-back one out walks drawn by Walsh and Olson, led to Ryon Healy bringing home two more runs for the RockHounds on a double to left in the bottom of the fourth.
Ryan Doolittle came on in relief of Neal in the sixth and Northwest Arkansas was able to get back in the game once again. Back-to-back solo shots by Hunter Dozier and Bianucci trimmed Midland's lead to 6-4.
With the score at 7-4 heading into the seventh, Seth Frankoff came on to replace Doolittle. After retiring the first two batters, Frankoff gave up a solo homer to Jorge Bonifacio as the Naturals cut into the RockHounds' lead yet again.
Midland would put the game out of reach in the bottom of the inning however as Jaycob Brugman and Blair drew back-to-back walks to start the inning. A wild pitch then moved both runners up to second and third respectively. Oberacker then brought Brugman home on a sacrifice fly.
Blair moved over to third on a balk and scored two batters later on a wild pitch to give the RockHounds a 9-5 lead.
Chad Pinder capped off the successful night for the RockHounds, when in the bottom of the eighth, he blasted a solo homer to left center field.
Olson, Healy and Oberacker all had two hits each with Olson and Healy driving in two runs, while Oberacker had a game-high three RBI.
Midland and Northwest Arkansas will square off again on Friday night at Security Bank Ballpark with first pitch scheduled for 7:00 p.m. CT.
Chris Jensen (12-8, 3.14 ERA with Midland in 2014) will get the ball for the RockHounds against the southpaw for the Naturals, Jonathan Dziedzic (6-7, 2.52 w/Wilmington in '14).
Texas League Stories from April 10, 2015
- Error Sends Drillers to Loss in Urias Debut - Tulsa Drillers
- Corpus Christi Hooks Friday Win in Springfield - Springfield Cardinals
- Bonifacio Homers in Naturals' 3-2 Loss - Northwest Arkansas Naturals
- RoughRiders Introduce New Canine Mascot - Frisco RoughRiders
- Midland Doubles-Up Naturals 10-5 to Open 2015 - Midland RockHounds
- Bats Break out in Opening Day Win - Corpus Christi Hooks
- Hooks Take Opening Night Contest from Cardinals - Springfield Cardinals
- Naturals Blast Four Homers, But Fall in 2015 Opener - Northwest Arkansas Naturals
- Drillers Begin Dodgers Era with Victory - Tulsa Drillers
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.
