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TL Northwest Arkansas Naturals

Naturals Walk-Off for First Time in 2021 in 12th over Hooks

September 3, 2021 - Texas League (TL)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release


The Northwest Arkansas Naturals played past the 10th inning for the first time in 2021 and came away with their first walk-off win of the season, winning 4-3 in 12 innings.

Clay Dungan played hero, as he lifted his second hit of the day into right field, scoring Blake Perkins from third base for the team's first extra-inning win at home in 2021.

After Corpus Christi tied the score at 3-3 in the 7th, the Naturals bullpen locked into focus. Josh Dye retired 6 of the final 7 batters he faced after allowing the game-tying homer, then the combination of Ándres Núñez and Jose Cuas kept the Hooks off base the rest of the night.

From Dye to Núñez and Cuas, the final 14 Hooks batters of the night were retired in order, from the 8th through the 12th innings.

Freddy Fermin and Brewer Hicklen each recorded two hits and scored a run in the victory, with Hicklen driving in a run as well.

While the Hooks jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 1st inning, Vinnie Pasquantino (MLB Pipeline's No. 18 Royals' prospect) tied the score in the 3rd with his 8th Double-A home run of the season, his 21st overall, an opposite field shot to left.

Jimmy Govern drove in Hicklen for the lead with an RBI single in the 4th, then after the Hooks tied the game in the 6th, the Naturals briefly took the lead on a Hicklen single that scored Fermin.

After starting pitcher Angel Zerpa (MLB Pipeline's No. 19 Royals' prospect) struck out three across 1.2 innings, left-hander Garrett Davila continued his strong start with the Naturals and bridged the gap to Dye, pitching 3.1 innings while allowing just one run and striking out four over his deepest outing with the club so far.

Combined, Naturals pitching struck out 14 total hitters, the second double-digit strikeout performance of the series.

With the win and a Wichita loss, the Naturals picks up a game of ground in the standings, now just 5.5 games back of the top seed for the playoffs, just 3.5 games out of the second seed, held by Frisco.

The Naturals' series with Corpus Christi (55-49) continues on Friday night with Nolan Watson on the mound for Northwest Arkansas (55-49) with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. CT at Arvest Ballpark.

Check out the Northwest Arkansas Naturals Statistics



Texas League Stories from September 3, 2021


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