Northwest Arkansas starter Jason Adam struck out 10 batters in 5 1/3 innings Thursday night in the Naturals' 4-2 victory over Tulsa at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale.
Three Naturals relievers followed Adam (2-6) to strike out five more Drillers as Northwest Arkansas moved to 3-0 to begin the second-half of the Texas League season.
Offensively, the Naturals broke a 2-2 tie with two runs in the bottom of the fourth when Micah Gibbs' two-run double scored Cheslor Cuthbert and Justin Trapp.
Tulsa struck in the top of the first when Joey Wong lined a one-out triple and scored on Christhian Adames' sacrifice fly.
The Naturals tied the score in the bottom of the first as leadoff hitter Lane Adams singled to begin the inning. He scored two outs later on Cuthbert's double to left-center field.
Northwest Arkansas took a brief 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third when Adams hit his sixth home run off the season with one out off Tulsa starter Richard Castillo (2-6).
The Drillers tied the score at 2-2 in the top of the fourth when Jayson Langfels led off with a single and stole second base. Harold Riggins lined a single to right center to score Langfels.
Scott Alexander relieved Adam with one out in the sixth and got Riggins to strike out swinging. His wild pitch moved Tyler Massey to second, but he got Brian Humphries to ground out to end the inning.
Angel Baez pitched a hitless eighth, while Andrew Triggs closed things out with two strikeouts in the ninth for his ninth save of the season.
Sports on 06/20/2014