TEXAS LEAGUE Cardinals battle back for victory

— Springfield didn’t panic after falling behind by six runs to Northwest Arkansas in the first two innings.

Matt Carpenter hit a home run in the 10th inning as the Cardinals completed a 9-8, comeback victory over the Naturals in front of 6,358 fans at Arvest Ballpark.

Northwest Arkansas scored five runs in the first inning and led 7-1 in the second before Springfield rallied.

Carpenter’s eighth home run came off Brandon Sisk (4-4). Johnny Giavotella and Paulo Orlando hit home runs for the Naturals, who were outhit 17-10.

Carpenter and Pete Kozma each had three hits for Springfield (50-46) while Giavotella and Orlando had two hits for Northwest Arkansas (60-36). Brandon King (4-2) pitched two scoreless innings for the victory while Francisco Samuel earned his third save by holding the Naturals scoreless in the 10th.

“We never gave up and kept plugging away,” SpringfieldManager Pop Warner said. “I give our pitchers credit, too. Brian Broderick could have folded the tent there after giving up seven runs but he battled and gave us six innings.”

Springfield scored three runs in the eighth inning to tie the game 8-8. Northwest Arkansas had a chance to win the game in the ninth when Derrick Robinson led off with a walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Giavotella. King intentionally walked Eric Hosmer then struck out Paulo Orlando and Tim Smith to send the game into extra innings.

The Naturals got off to a fast start when their first six batters collected hits against Broderick.

Northwest Arkansas scored five in the first inning, then added two more in the secondon a home run by Giavotella, who hit his third home run of the season. Orlando hit his seventh home run of the season in the fifth after Springfield pulled to within 7-4.

The Naturals didn’t do much after Orlando’s home run, and the Cardinals pulled even against Blake Johnson, who allowed 7 hits and 4 runs in 2 innings. Jose Garcia and Daryl Jones each had doubles in the eighth, and Kozma tied the game when he scored on a double play groundout.

Northwest Arkansas’ defeat came after the Naturals gave up 20 hits in a 19-12 victory over Arkansas on Thursday.

“We’ve got to do better (pitching) because our offense can’t continually score eight, nine and 10 runs,” Northwest Arkansas Manager Brian Poldberg said. “We had enough runs to where we should’ve won.”

Northwest Arkansas scoredfive runs on six hits in the first inning. Derrick Robinson led off with a double, followed by singles from Giavotella, Hosmer and Orlando. Tim Smith brought home two runs with a double before two more scored on a single by Jamie Romak, who was thrown out while trying to stretch his hit into a double.

Chris McConnell led off the second inning with a double and scored on a home run by Giavotella to put the Naturals ahead 7-1.

Northwest Arkansas starter Eduardo Paulino pitched five innings and was helped by three double plays. Paulino, who walked the bases loaded in the second, allowed seven hits and four runs. Broderick was charged with 8 runs on 10 hits in 6 innings.

Springf ield began its comeback with three runs in the fifth inning. Garcia led off with a single and scored on atriple by Daryl Jones. Kozma brought Jones home with a double, and he scored on a single by Carpenter.

Orlando’s home run put Northwest Arkansas ahead 8-4, but the Cardinals continued to rally and tied the game with three runs eighth.

Sports, Pages 13 on 07/24/2010

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