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