SPRINGDALE — A brilliant pitching performance by Brandon Hynick and two key hits lifted the Tulsa Drillers against Northwest Arkansas on Sunday.
Hynick pitched seven scoreless innings, Lars Davis hit a fifth-inning home run and Mike Mitchell had a two-run triple in the eighth to give Tulsa a 3-1 victory over the Naturals before a crowd of 7,604 on the final night game of the season at Arvest Ballpark.
Yem Prades singled up the middle to drive in the Naturals’ only run with two out inthe bottom of the ninth inning, but Whit Merrifield flied out to left to end the game.
“I don’t know how many times this year in the ninth inning we have nothing going, then all of a sudden there’s a little spark,” Naturals Manager Brian Poldberg said. “The guys didn’t give up until the last out, and that’s kind of a tribute to their character.”
Hynick (7-3) yielded 6 hits, struck out 6 and did not issue a walk to earn the victory. He won all three of his starts against the Naturals this year, allowing two earned runs in 20 innings.
“He throws a lot of strikes, changes speeds and throws on both sides of the plate,” Tulsa Manager Duane Espy said. “He’s a professional. He knows what he needs to do, and he just goes out there andexecutes.”
Northwest Arkansas (21-47) was unable to take advantage of a strong start by right-hander J.C. Sulbaran, who entered Sunday’s game with a 9.95 ERA for the Naturals.
Sulbaran (0-4) lost despite yielding 1 run on 6 hits in 7 innings. The longest of Sulbaran’s previous five starts with the Naturals was 41/3 innings.
The Naturals threatened in the second inning when Kevin Kouzmanoff led off with a single and went to third on a double to center by Alex Mc-Clure, but Hynick retired the next two batters to leave both runners stranded.
Northwest Arkansas left another runner on third base in the third inning. Prades reached on an error, stole second and went to third on a wild pitch, but Paulo Orlandogrounded out to end the inning.
The Naturals conclude their season with today’s 1 p.m. contest against Tulsa (34-34), which will advance to the Texas League playoffs.
SATURDAY’S GAMES Springfield 4, Arkansas 0 Tulsa 6, NW Arkansas 2 Frisco 10, Midland 3 Corpus Christi 11, San Antonio 1 SUNDAY’S GAMES Springfield 10, Arkansas 1Tulsa 3, NW Arkansas 1 Frisco 7, Midland 6 San Antonio 4, Corpus Christi 3 TODAY’S GAMES All times Central Springfield at Arkansas, 1 p.m.
Tulsa at NW Arkansas, 1 p.m.
Midland at Frisco, 1 p.m.
C. Christi at San Antonio, 6:05 p.m.
TUESDAY’S GAMES No games scheduled
Sports, Pages 21 on 09/03/2012