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TL1 Northwest Arkansas Naturals

Ninth inning comeback snaps losing skid

August 26, 2009 - Texas League (TL1)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release


SPRINGDALE, AR- Jeff Howell's one out single in the bottom of the ninth scored Ed Lucas as the Naturals beat the Springfield Cardinals by the 8-7 final, snapping the Naturals' seven game losing streak.

Ed Lucas led off the final frame with a single to center and moved to second on a perfectly placed artistic bunt by David Lough that trickled its way down the third base line parallel with the field side of the chalk line for over half of the baseline. After Vance Wilson popped out to first, Springfield was forced to switch pitchers when Francisco Samuel came out with injury. Chuckie Fick relieved and intentionally walked Corey Smith to get to Howell, who singled through the hole into right for the game's winning run.

It was all Naturals early on as Northwest Arkansas scored one in the first and three in the second. Jarrod Dyson led off the game with a double and scored on an RBI groundout by Bianchi for the early 1-0 lead. Lough led off the second with a homer to deep right and Jose Duarte followed with a two-run shot to left later in the inning which gave the Naturals a four-run lead. Both Dyson and Lough would finish the evening with three hits apiece.

Springfield would get those runs back in the third, however. Pete Kozma and Jim Rapoport singled to start the inning and moved up when Joe Mather drew a walk from Naturals starter Matt Kniginyzky. Steven Hill's fly ball to deep center scored Kozma, and Andrew Brown followed with his eighth homer of the season which scored Rapoport and Mather to tie the ballgame.

The lead was short-lived for the Cards as Ed Lucas took Springfield starter Scott Gorgen deep with one out in the bottom of the third to put the Naturals ahead 5-4.

Springfield failed to put a run across in the fourth but they did chase the starter, Kniginyzky, who had some trouble finding the strike zone and was removed with one out in the fourth after issuing consecutive walks to Kozma and Rapoport sandwiched with a wild pitch. Southpaw Ben Swaggerty relieved and got Daryl Jones to ground into the 4-6-3 twin killing to end the threat. Kniginyzky's day ended after just 58 pitches and 3 1/3 innings. He allowed four hits and the four runs, issued four walks and fanned one batter.

Springfield would put up consecutive runs in the next three frames to take a 7-5 lead. Steven Hill drove in his second run on the evening with a fifth-inning RBI single off Swaggerty, and the Cards loaded the bases with one out in the sixth and got a run in on a sacrifice fly from Joe Mather. The seventh inning run came on a leadoff homer by Brown, his ninth longball on the season and third in two games.

The homer came off Naturals reliever Aaron Hartsock (3-1), who settled in to retire the next seven Cards in order, He worked around two baserunners in the ninth which came off a bobble by Naturals' shortstop Jeff Bianchi and a catcher interference call on Naturals' backstop Jeff Howell that allowed Springfield's Tyler Henley to reach base safely. Hartsock was credited with the win after Howell's walkoff ensured Northwest Arkansas (30-28, 66-62) would not establish a new franchise mark for consecutive losses.

Francisco Samuel (3-4), who has had trouble with the Naturals all season, put the lead runners on and was tagged with the loss as Springfield (27-30, 65-62) snapped a five game winning streak.

With Tulsa beating to the Travelers on Wednesday, the Naturals remain in second place and two games behind the Drillers in the Texas League North Division. The series with Springfield continues Thursday night. The Naturals will throw lefty Rowdy Hardy (3-3, 2.72) opposite right-hander Brandon Dickson (8-9, 3.56) for Springfield.

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.

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