NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — Northwest Arkansas had a nice start but a lousy finish.
The Frisco RoughRiders spotted the Naturals an early run then took a 6-1 victory in front of a crowd of 4,112 Monday night at Dr Pepper Ballpark in Frisco, Texas. The Naturals had four hits in their first eight at-bats but only two the rest of the game against three RoughRiders pitchers.
The Naturals took the lead in the top of the first inning against RoughRiders starter Cody Buckel (4-5). Yem Prades led off the game with a single, moved to second on Whit Merrifield’s grounder and scored on Brian Fletcher’s single.
Frisco got the run back in the second against Naturals starter Mike Montgomery. Tommy Mendonca singled and moved to second on Jared Hoying’s single.
After a sacrifice bunt advanced both runners, Mendonca scored on Zach Zaneski’s sacrifice fly to tiethe game at 1-1.
The RoughRiders blew the game open in the fifth against Montgomery. Engel Beltre led off with a walk and stole second before Jurickson Profar walked.
Beltre was thrown out attempting to steal third, and Chris McGuiness walked.Jared Prince hit his 11th home run of the season to give Frisco a 4-1 lead.
Montgomery (2-4) pitched 5 innings and gave up 5 hits, 5 walks and 4 earned runs while striking out 3.
The RoughRiders scored two more runs against Naturals reliever Jon Keck in the seventh. Leury Garcia had a one-out single and Profar walked.
McGuiness grounded back to Keck, who threw to second to force out Profar. Shortstop Alex McClure threw past first, allowing Garcia to score.
Ethan Hollingsworth relieved Keck and threw a wild pitch to move McGuiness to second. Prince singled to drive in McGuiness for a 6-1 lead.
SUNDAY’S GAMES Frisco 3-3, NW Arkansas 0-1 Arkansas 5, San Antonio 2 Tulsa 8, Midland 2 Corpus Christi 7, Springfield 1 MONDAY’S GAMES Arkansas 4, San Antonio 3 Frisco 6, NW Arkansas 1 Tulsa 6, Midland 5 Corpus Christi 2, Springfield 1, 13 innings TODAY’S GAMES All times Central Springfield at NW Arkansas, 7 p.m.
Arkansas at Tulsa, 7:05 p.m.
Midland at Corpus Christi, 7:05 p.m.
Frisco at San Antonio, 7:05 p.m.
Naturals glance WHO Springfield at NW Arkansas WHEN 7:05 p.m.
WHERE Arvest Ballpark, Springdale ADMISSION $6-12 advance tickets; $7-13 day of game purchase PITCHERS Cardinals: RHP Carlos Martinez (2-3, 3.09 ERA); Naturals: RHP JC Sulbaran (0-1, 10.64 ERA) RADIO KQSM-FM, 92.1, in Northwest Arkansas in Northwest Arkansas WEB SITE www.nwanaturals.com SHORT HOPS Martinez has pitched five or fewer innings in his past four starts.
His last victory was against Northwest Arkansas on July 14. ... Sulbaran has given up 13 runs in 11 innings over 3 starts for the Naturals. He gave up 11 runs in 3 innings against Midland on Thursday.
THE WEEK AHEAD TODAY vs. Springfield, 7:05 p.m.
WEDNESDAY vs. Springfield, 7:05 p.m.
THURSDAY vs. Springfield, 7:05 p.m.
FRIDAY vs. Springfield, 7:30 p.m.
SATURDAY at Tulsa, 7:05 p.m.
SUNDAY at Tulsa, 7:05 p.m.
MONDAY at Tulsa, 7:05 p.m.
Sports, Pages 15 on 08/21/2012