Naturals Sweep Doubleheader Behind Stellar Pitching and Long Balls
August 28, 2021 - Texas League (TL)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release
The Northwest Arkansas Naturals swept a doubleheader for the fourth time in the six they've played in 2021, with 8-0 and 4-1 wins over the Springfield Cardinals Friday night.
Drew Parrish threw a seven-inning complete game shutout in Game 1, allowing just two hits with no walks and seven strikeouts. It was his second outing of 7.0 innings this year and the team's third seven-inning complete game, the second with a shutout.
Angel Zerpa (MLB Pipeline's No. 20 Royals' prospect) started game two and fired two perfect innings, striking out five of the six batters he faced. Zerpa was relieved by Josh Dye, who threw 2.2 scoreless with one strikeout and was followed by Ándres Núñez, who allowed one unearned run across 2.1 innings with a pair of strikeouts.
Across both games, home runs carried the Naturals offense with three in the first game and two in the second. Vinnie Pasquantino (MLB Pipeline's No. 19 Royals' prospect) hit his 7th with the Naturals and 20th overall to lead off the 3rd inning, then Meibrys Viloria hit a two-run shot in the 5th and Brewer Hicklen launched his 13th of the year over the wall in the 6th, also a solo shot.
In the second game, Jimmy Govern hit his 4th with the Naturals and 9th overall, a solo shot in the 2nd inning. In the fourth, Seuly Matias led off with his 2nd Double-A homer and 13th of the year.
The Naturals scored two runs in the first inning of game one on three hits, then did the same in the second inning, with the rest of the game's runs coming on homers.
Govern's homer started the scoring in Game 2 and after Matias doubled the lead in the fourth, Viloria did so again in the sixth. He ripped a double to right-center to score Pasquantino from first, then came around to score himself on Springfield error and make the score 4-0.
With a 2-for-3 effort in Game 1 and 1-for-1 performance with a pair of walks in Game 2, Pasquantino leads all Minor Leaguers with 34 doubles and 57 extra-base hits, while he ranks fourth with 215 total bases.
Hicklen went 2-for-3 in Game 1, while Govern collected two hits in three trips to the plate in Game 2.
Four doubleheader sweeps in 2021 is tied with the 2010 Naturals for the most in a single season, while the four the team has played at home are tied for the most.
Northwest Arkansas (52-47) looks to secure a series win over Springfield (36-64) on Saturday with Nolan Watson going to the mound in the fifth game of the series.
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