The second half of the Texas League season started for the Northwest Arkansas Naturals the same way the first half ended -- with a victory.

Center fielder Lane Adams hit his third home run in two games and got a solid start from Sam Selman as the Naturals defeated the Arkansas Travelers 3-2 on Tuesday in front of an announced crowd of 3,439 at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale.

Adams' home run gave the Naturals a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning. He finished 2 for 4 with 1 RBI and 1 run scored. The Travelers struggled early offensively, as Selman retired the first 14 batters he faced.

The Travs finally scored, and took the lead, in the top of the sixth inning. Center fielder Kyle Hudson led off the inning with a single through the hole at shortstop. After shortstop Eric Stamets walked, second baseman Maikol Gonzalez reached on an error by Naturals first baseman Mark Threlkeld. Hudson scored to tie the game at 1-1 on a sacrifice fly by third baseman Kaleb Cowart. Stamets scored to give the Travelers a 2-1 lead on a single by second baseman Alex Yarbrough that chased Selman. Cody Fassold came in and got third baseman Brian Hernandez to ground into a double play that ended the inning.

The Naturals regained the lead for good in the bottom of the eighth inning. First baseman Max Ramirez, who finished 2 for 3 with 1 walk and 1 strikeout, lead off with a single and was lifted for pinch runner Angel Franco, who advanced to second on Threlkeld's sacrifice bunt. Franco scored on a single by catcher Micah Gibbs to tie the game at 2-2. Second baseman Justin Trapp flied out, but two consecutive wild pitches by Michael Brady allowed Gibbs to advance to third base. Outfielder Ethan Chapman singled to left field to score Gibbs to give the Naturals a 3-2 lead.

Although Selman allowed both Travelers runs, he did so on only 3 hits with 4 strikeouts and 1 walk in 5 1/3 innings. Ali Williams (2-0) got the victory after allowing 1 hit with 1 walk in 1 inning. Andrew Triggs got his eighth save of the season after pitching a clean ninth inning. Brady (0-1) blew a save and took the loss for the Travelers, allowing 2 earned runs on 3 hits in 1 1/3 innings.

The Travelers managed five hits on singles by Hudson, Cowart, Yarbrough, outfielder Erik Komatsu, and catcher Anderson De La Rosa.

Sports on 06/18/2014