TEXAS LEAGUE

Eibner’s offense sparks Naturals

Maybe Brett Eibner is starting to settle in at the plate.

Northwest Arkansas’ center fielder hit his second home run of the season and went 3 for 4 with 1 RBI and 1 run scored Thursday night to lead the Naturals to a 3-2 victory over the Tulsa Drillers in the opening game of their four-game series at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale.

The performance marked the second time in the past three games Eibner has had three hits in a game. He went 3 for 4 with a home run Monday night in a 10-3 loss to the Frisco RoughRiders in Frisco, Texas.

Eibner set the tone early, giving the Naturals a 1-0 lead in the first inning with a leadoff home run to left-center field off Drillers starter Chad Bettis, who settled in after that and didn’t allow another run over 4 2/3 innings.

The lead didn’t last long, though, as Kiel Roling led off the top of the second inning with a home run to right field to tie the game at 1-1.

Neither team managed another run until the sixth inning, when the Naturals took the lead for good against Joe Gardner. Manuel Pina, who went 2 for 3, started things with a two-out double to left field. Angel Franco followed with another double to right field that drove in Pina for a 2-1 lead.

The Naturals scored their final run in the seventh inning. Alex McClure singled to right field to lead off the inning, and after a strikeout by Eibner, Orlando Calixte reached on an error by second baseman Angelys Nina that allowed McClure to move to third.

Rey Navarro followed with a bunt single down the firstbase line to drive in McClure for a 3-1 lead.

Naturals glance NW ARKANSAS VS. TULSA WHEN 7 p.m.

WHERE Arvest Ballpark, Springdale RADIO KQSM-FM, 92.1, in Fayetteville WEBSITE nwanaturals.com PITCHERS Naturals: Yordano Ventura (RHP, 1-0, 1.80 ERA); Drillers: Timothy Gustafson (RHP, 0-1, 12.79) PROMOTIONS Super Hero Friday Night Bash. Any child 13 or younger dressed like a super hero gets a Naturals SuperPack of prizes. Postgame fireworks show.

THE WEEK AHEAD TODAY Tulsa, 7 p.m.

SATURDAY Tulsa, 7 p.m.

SUNDAY Tulsa, 7 p.m.

MONDAY at Springfield, 7:09 p.m.

TUESDAY at Springfield, 7:09 p.m.

WEDNESDAY at Springfield, 7:09 p.m.

THURSDAY at Springfield, 7:09 p.m.

WEDNESDAY’S GAMES No games scheduled THURSDAY’S GAMES NW Arkansas 3, Tulsa 2 Midland 2, San Antonio 1 Frisco at Corpus Christi, (n) Springfield at Arkansas, ppd., rain FRIDAY’S GAMES All times Central Springfield at Arkansas, 2, 6:10 p.m.

Tulsa at Northwest Arkansas, 7 p.m.

Midland at San Antonio, 7:05 p.m.

Frisco at Corpus Christi, 7:05 p.m.

Sports, Pages 19 on 04/19/2013

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