Travs Avoid Sweep, Defeat Naturals in Finale
June 5, 2019 - Texas League (TL1)
Northwest Arkansas Naturals News Release
SPRINGDALE, Ark - The visitors from North Little Rock avoided a sweep at the hands of Northwest Arkansas on Wednesday night as the Arkansas Travelers (36-21) defeated the Naturals (25-33) at Arvest Ballpark by an 11-1 final in the series finale.
After taking the first two games of the series, Northwest Arkansas wasn't able to put it together in the finale as Arkansas raced out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the second on a sacrifice fly by Jordan Cowan and a run-scoring single by Joseph Odom.
In the home half of the frame, the Naturals would use three hits to cut the deficit to 2-1. Anderson Miller got things started with a double and advanced to third on a single by Meibrys Viloria before coming into score on a Travis Jones single.
The run in the second would be the bright spot for the offense as it was all North Little Rock in the series finale from then on out as the Travelers scored three runs in the fifth then ultimately put the game away with five runs in the seventh.
Jake Fraley, the reigning Texas League Player of the Month, provided a RBI single while Kyle Lewis drove in the other two runs in the fifth with a double. Then in the seventh, Arkansas would get runs on a Donnie Walton single, Evan White triple, Dom Thompson-Williams double, Cowan single before Odom completed the scoring with a RBI on a force out to make it 10-1.
Lewis, a former first round pick by the Seattle Mariners, would cap the scoring for the Travs with a solo home run in the ninth.
Conner Greene (L, 3-5) got the start for Northwest Arkansas and was effective through the early portion before giving up the three-spot in the fifth. His final line showed him giving up five runs, four earned, on five hits with three strikeouts in 5.0 innings. Emilio Ogando followed but wasn't able to keep his team within striking distance as he gave up five runs in 1.1 innings pitched.
On the other side of the field, the Travelers' received a brilliant start out of Darren McCaughan (W, 4-3). The right-hander punched out seven and limited the Naturals to just a run on seven hits while reliever Zac Grotz worked the final 2.0 frames.
In the finale loss, a few streaks were snapped for Northwest Arkansas as it was the first time in the last 10 games where they didn't hit a home run as well as the first time in four games where they didn't receive a quality start from their starting pitcher.
Northwest Arkansas will continue their 7-game homestand tomorrow afternoon - Thursday, June 6th - by welcoming the Springfield Cardinals (Double-A Affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals) to Arvest Ballpark with a first pitch time scheduled for 4:05 p.m. Thursday's game will feature the highly-anticipated home debut of Royals' top-ranked prospect Brady Singer (1-0, 3.60 ERA) while Springfield will counter with right-hander Harold Arauz (0-4, 7.71 ERA). Catch all of the live play-by-play action with the Voice of the Naturals Benjamin Kelly on KQSM - 92.1 The Ticket at 3:45 p.m. for the Indigo Sky Casino Pregame Show.
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.
Texas League Stories from June 5, 2019
- Travs Avoid Sweep, Defeat Naturals in Finale - Northwest Arkansas Naturals
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