TL1 Northwest Arkansas Naturals

Naturals and Travs split double header

Published on May 5, 2009 under Texas League (TL1)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release


SPRINGDALE, AR- The Northwest Arkansas Naturals stranded 11 runners as the Arkansas Travelers won 5-4 in the first of two meetings today. Tommy Mendoza (1-0) allowed two earned runs in 5.0 innings to earn the win for the Travs. Anthony Lerew (1-1) was knocked around for 12 hits in 5.2 innings in the losing effort. David Herndon earned his fifth save of the season for North Little Rock.

Ben Johnson led the Travs offense with two runs batted in, including a solo home run. Ryan Mount's solo home run in the fifth inning proved to be the winning run for the Travs. Jordan Parraz had three hits in a losing effort for the Naturals.

During game two, the final six innings belonged to Chris Hayes (3-0) as the Naturals took the nightcap 5-4 in a 13 inning marathon that lasted until after midnight. The submarine style pitcher stymied the Travs bats for just three hits over the last six frames. Hayes' outing constitutes a team record for the longest outing by a Naturals' relief pitcher in the team's short history, an outing in which he used an economical 56 pitches and got 45 of them across for strikes.

Corey Smith collected four hits to go along with three runs batted in during the extra-inning affair. Smith's fourth hit brought in Jose Duarte, to score the winning run during the bottom of the 13th off of Travs' reliever Bryan Rembisz (1-2), the last of four Travs' relievers. It was unearned, however, as Rembisz committed an error on a pickoff move attempting to nab Duarte. Smith, along with Mario Lisson also plated runs during the pivotal bottom of the fifth in which the Naturals scored two runs to knot the game up at four. Smith had three RBI in all on the evening, and Brian McFall added one amongst his 3-for-6 effort.

The Naturals outhit the Travelers in both games; 13-12 in game one, and 16-6 in game two. The Naturals left eight men in scoring position with two out in game two as the two teams' offenses combined to bat 4-for-27 with runners in scoring position in the 13-inning contest.

Both the Naturals and Travelers exit tonight's game with 11-12 records. The Naturals head to Springfield Tuesday to begin an eight-game road trip which concludes with a trip to Tulsa. Right-hander Blake Wood gets the start for Northwest Arkansas Tuesday night opposite another righty, Brandon Dickson, who will get the start for the Cardinals.

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are the Double-A Texas League affiliate of the Kansas City Royals and play at state-of-the-art Arvest Ballpark, located in Springdale. The Naturals have a toll-free ticket hotline (1-877-444-2637) for fans to purchase Naturals tickets. Our website, nwanaturals.com offers fans the opportunity to purchase tickets online and avoid lines at the ticket windows by printing their tickets at home or at the office.

Check out the Northwest Arkansas Naturals Statistics

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Texas League Stories from May 5, 2009


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