TL1 Northwest Arkansas Naturals

Naturals Edge Cardinals for Third Straight Win

Published on August 27, 2015 under Texas League (TL1)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release


SPRINGDALE, AR - For the second night in a row Jorge Bonifacio provided a big hit for Northwest Arkansas. With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Bonifacio singled to right field and Bubba Starling came around to score on a fielding error by the Cardinals' right fielder for the go ahead run in the Naturals (24-34, 64-64) win over the Springfield Cardinals (27-32, 57-72) on Thursday night.

Springfield jumped on the board first with a run in the third inning. Charlie Tilson grounded into a force out to first base with one out to allow Nick Martini, who led off the inning with a single, to score and give the Cardinals an early 1-0 advantage.

The Naturals would strip Springfield of its lead in the bottom half of the third inning after Ramon Torres led off the inning with a solo home run, his fourth of the season, to left field to tie the game at 1-1. The Naturals offense didn't stop there though as Bubba Starling came up next and got on via an infield single to shortstop. The combination of Bonifacio and Lane Adams followed with back-to-back singles of their own to right to load the bases. The big hit came from Zane Evans as the Naturals backstop smacked a bases clearing double with one out into deep left field to score Starling, Bonifacio and Adams to give the Naturals a 4-1 lead over the Cardinals.

Springfield would fight back and cut the three run deficit to a single run in the top half of the fourth as Jonathan Rodriguez connected on a 2-1 pitch to smack a two-run home run, his eleventh of the season, into left center to make it 4-3 ballgame. In the sixth inning, Springfield would tie the game at four a piece on a single up the middle by Mike O'Neill to score Charlie Tilson, who led the inning off with a triple. The Naturals though would reclaim the lead for good on the Bonifacio single in the seventh to set the final score at 5-4.

RHP Brooks Pounders (3-3 2.48 ERA) earned the win for Northwest Arkansas as he struck out seven in 7.0 innings of work. LHP Sam Selman (S, 3) earned his third save with two strong innings of relief, while RHP Silfredo Garcia (0-1) took the loss for Springfield.

The Naturals and the Cardinals will meet again tomorrow night in the series finale with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at Arvest Ballpark. Friday, August 28 is our First Responders Night Post-Game Fireworks Spectacular by Mini Babybel® Cheese featuring a special Naturals Camouflage Jersey Giveaway by Western Federal Credit Union for the first 2000 fans in attendance.

Northwest Arkansas will give the ball to RHP Kyle Zimmer (1-4, 2.75 ERA) and he'll be opposed by RHP Andrew Morales (4-6, 4.84 ERA) of the AA St. Louis Cardinals. Tune in with the Voice of the Naturals, Benjamin Kelly, at 6:50 p.m. for the Indigo Sky Casino Pre-Game Show leading up to the 7:05 p.m. first pitch at Arvest Ballpark on the Naturals' flagship station KQSM 92.1 - FM, the Ticket.

Check out the Northwest Arkansas Naturals Statistics

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Texas League Stories from August 27, 2015


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