TL1 Northwest Arkansas Naturals

O'Hearn Homers in Debut But Naturals Fall to Cardinals

Published on May 4, 2016 under Texas League (TL1)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release


SPRINGDALE, Ark. - The Springfield Cardinals (15-11) built a 10-1 lead over the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (11-14) on Wednesday afternoon before the Naturals would rally for five runs in the ninth; however it would not be enough as they would fall to their division rivals by the score of 10-6 in front of a crowd of 7,012 on Wednesday afternoon at Arvest Ballpark.

Trailing 10-1 entering the bottom of the ninth inning, Northwest Arkansas finally got their bats going against the Cardinals and reliever Joey Donofrio. Allan de San Miguel and Logan Moon reached to begin the frame by way of singles. Second baseman Jack Lopez, a late entry into the Naturals lineup, followed with a RBI double down the left field line to make it 10-2. Ramon Torres then singled to left to score Moon and cut the deficit to 10-3. Springfield would turn to the bullpen as Chris Thomas would come on to replace Donofrio. Northwest Arkansas' offense would continue their late game rally as Orlando Calixte greeted Thomas with a sacrifice fly making it a 10-4 game. The next batter was Ryan O'Hearn, whom had been transferred to Double-A Northwest Arkansas from Advanced-A Wilmington earlier in the day. O'Hearn, a big left-handed power hitting first baseman, found his stroke in the ninth as he launched a 1-0 pitch deep over the wall in right for a two-run home run. Bubba Starling would add a two-out double but that would be all the offense could muster in the 10-6 defeat.

O'Hearn, an eighth round pick for the Royals out of Sam Houston State in 2014, started at first base and hit third in his debut. Before his call up, the Texas-native was tearing up the Carolina League as he hit .352 with seven home runs and 18 RBI in only 22 games for the Blue Rocks. In his Northwest Arkansas debut today, he finished 1-for-5 with a homer and two RBI.

Corey Baker (2-0, 1.33 ERA) got the win for the Cardinals as he shut the Naturals down after giving up a run in the first on a RBI single by Hunter Dozier. The veteran righty went 6.0 innings, giving up the one run on five hits while striking out five. Eric Skoglund (1-1, 3.95 ERA) started strong for the Naturals with four scoreless innings but ultimately took the loss for Northwest Arkansas after allowing four runs in the fifth. The lefty struck out seven, which increases his total on the year to 28.

The Naturals recorded 13 hits on the afternoon with Mauricio Ramos, Torres, Calixte, and Dozier all collecting multi-hit games. With his single in the fifth inning, Ramon Torres extended his Texas League leading hit streak to 11 games.

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals series against the Double-A St. Louis Cardinals will continue tomorrow night - Thursday, May 5 - with Game 3 of this 4-game series on Buck Night on Thirsty Thursday. Gates will open at 6:00 p.m. for the 7:05 p.m. game that will feature the pitching matchup of RHP Alec Mills (1-1, 2.79 ERA) of the Naturals against RHP Mike Mayers (2-2, 3.54 ERA) of the Cardinals. You can catch all the live play-by-play action with the Voice of the Naturals Benjamin Kelly on your home for the Naturals on KQSM 92.1 The Ticket at 6:45 p.m. Indigo Sky Casino Pregame Show leading up to first pitch.

Check out the Northwest Arkansas Naturals Statistics

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Texas League Stories from May 4, 2016


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