TL1 Northwest Arkansas Naturals

Naturals Fall in High-Scoring Finale

Published on July 14, 2018 under Texas League (TL1)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release


SPRINGDALE, Ark - Northwest Arkansas and Tulsa put on a show offensively in the series finale but the Naturals (4-16, 39-51) would ultimately fall to the Drillers (16-5, 50-41) in the high-scoring affair in front of a crowd of 5,160 at Arvest Ballpark. The 12-8 victory gave Tulsa the series win, which keeps the Naturals in a tie for third-place and sitting 11.5 games back of the Drillers.

Tulsa got on the scoreboard first for the fourth consecutive game. On Saturday night it took until the second inning as Drew Jackson continued his solid play at the plate by hitting a solo home run over the wall in left field for the early 1-0 advantage.

The Drillers would add a couple of runs in the fourth to extend their lead over the Naturals. D.J. Peters drove in the first run with a RBI double to center before Jackson followed with his second RBI of the night with a single to left for the 3-0 lead.

The bats would awaken for Northwest Arkansas in the home half of the fourth as three consecutive singles by Jecksson Flores, Erick Mejia and Elier Hernandez would result in a run. Mejia would then score on a double play to cut the deficit to 3-2.

The game remained 3-2 until both offenses got it rolling in the sixth. Tulsa would plate three runs - all with two outs - on a two-run single by last night's hero, Wes Darvill, and a RBI single to center field by Tyler Goeddel for a 6-2 lead. The Naturals would take advantage of some Tulsa miscues to follow suit with three runs of their own on a wild pitch, RBI groundout and error.

The one-run game would be as close as it would get as the Drillers used their three-run sixth as momentum to score more runs to put the finale out of reach. The visitors scored a run in the seventh on a RBI double by Peters, three in the eighth on a deep three-run home run by Will Smith, and two in the ninth on a single by Darvill and a costly error by the Naturals' centerfielder.

Northwest Arkansas wouldn't quit as they scored three runs in the eighth to cut it to 10-8 at the time. Kelvin Gutierrez had the big hit during the frame as the Naturals' third basemen drilled a two-run triple into the right field corner before scoring on a wild pitch by Karch Kowalczyk. The three runs would be the last of the offense for the Naturals as they fall by a 12-8 final.

Hernandez and Gutierrez led the Naturals nine-hit attack as the duo combined for five hits four RBIs and three runs scored. Meanwhile, the Drillers pounded out another 15 hits as Goeddel had four hits and Peters and Jackson each had three.

Foster Griffin (L, 3-12) got the start for Northwest Arkansas and was solid through the early innings but gave up two runs in the fourth and three in the sixth, which would end up costing him. In total, Griffin gave up six runs on eight hits while striking out seven in 6.0 innings of work. Tulsa's Logan Bawcom (W, 4-5) earned the win with 5.0 innings of two-run baseball.

Tonight's game concluded this 4-game series and homestand against the Tulsa Drillers (Double-A Affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers). Northwest Arkansas will hit the road tomorrow to begin a 4-game series in Springfield against the Cardinals (Double-A St. Louis Cardinals) before returning to Arvest Ballpark for a 7-game homestand on Thursday, July 19 through Wednesday, July 25. During the next homestand, the Naturals will face Tulsa for another 4-game set from July 19 through July 22 before squaring off against the Arkansas Travelers (Double-A Affiliate of the Seattle Mariners) for the final 3 games of the homestand.

Catch the live play-by-play action of the road opener in Springfield on Sunday night with the Voice of the Naturals Benjamin Kelly on KQSM - 92.1 The Ticket starting at 5:55 p.m. for the Indigo Sky Casino Pregame Show leading to first pitch at 6:10 p.m.

Follow the Northwest Arkansas Naturals on Facebook and Twitter @NWANaturals all throughout the year by using the hashtag #NaturalPastime and #CrowntoCrown for all of our up-to-date information on the 2018 season of Naturals baseball.

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.

Check out the Northwest Arkansas Naturals Statistics

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Texas League Stories from July 14, 2018


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