Springfield parlayed the game's only error into the go-ahead run in the eighth inning en route to a 5-4 victory over Arkansas before an announced crowd of 9,151 Saturday night at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock.
The Travelers (36-39) missed a chance for their first three-game winning streak in almost a month. The Cardinals (37-38) scored the game-winning run on Patrick Wisdom's bases-loaded double-play grounder.
Springfield also scored in the second inning on a bases-loaded groundout to third.
"I thought we swung the bats OK, until right when we really needed to," Arkansas Manager Phillip Wellman said. "But for the first time in probably ... our defense actually let us down. We had two double-play balls that should have been turned."
Cody Stanley, who scored the game-winning run to snap a 4-4 tie, led off the eighth inning with a single to center.
Jonathan Rodriguez followed with a grounder that went off third baseman Kaleb Cowart's glove for an error, instead of a double play. The miscue led to the deciding run.
Arkansas went down in order in the eighth inning, but catcher Jett Bandy, who was 3 for 3, led off the ninth with a single to short right field. He moved to second on Jimmy Swift's sacrifice bunt, but Eric Stamets struck out swinging and Kyle Hudson, the No. 9 hitter, bounced back to the mound to end the game.
Lee Stoppelman, Springfield's fourth pitcher, earned his third save by recording the final out. Reliever Ryan Sherriff (2-1) pitched a scoreless seventh inning for the victory.
Kurt Spomer (1-2) was charged with the loss after allowing 2 hits and 1 unearned run in 3 innings of relief. Arkansas starter Kramer Sneed pitched the first 5 innings, allowing 7 hits and 4 earned runs.
The Cardinals outhit the Travelers 9-7. Each team had two home runs.
Arkansas opened the four-game series -- the second in the Texas League's second half -- with three home runs in a 9-1 victory Thursday night.
"The ball carries better here in the summer," Wellman said. "Historically, it has."
After quickly falling behind 2-0 on Saturday, Arkansas used two home runs to take to a 4-2 lead after four innings.
The Travelers took a 3-2 lead in the third inning on Alex Yarbrough's sacrifice fly and a Brian Hernandez two-run homer to left field.
Arkansas extended the advantage to 4-2 in the fourth inning on Bandy's one-out home run to left field, his seventh of the season.
Springfield tied the score, 4-4, with two runs in the sixth inning.
Stanley led off with a home run to right-center field. Jonathan Rodriguez then walked, and scored on Curt Smith's hit-and-run double to right center. Smith's game-tying hit ended Sneed's night. Spomer retired three consecutive hitters to end the threat.
The Cardinals led 1-0 with Mike O'Neill's home run to right leading off the game.
They made it 2-0 in the second inning on Starlin Rodriguez's RBI groundout to third with the bases loaded.
Cowart had a chance to turn an inning-ending double play but bobbled Rodriguez's grounder and could only get one out by throwing to first.
Sports on 06/22/2014