SPRINGDALE - Arkansas Travelers center fielder Adam Melker saved at least two runs - and maybe the game - with a diving catch against Northwest Arkansas on Sunday.

Melker’s catch of a drive by Jared Schlehuber to deep right-center field with two runners on base in the fourth inning helped the Travs beat the Naturals 5-3 before an announced crowd of 5,023 at Arvest Ballpark.

“I thought he was going to catch it from the get-go, just because I’ve seen him play so much,” Travs Manager Phillip Wellman said. “As he got closer, I was going, ‘I don’t know,’ because of the wind, but he took a great angle to it and looked like Superman there for a second.

“When the ball landed in his glove, it was a beautiful thing.”

Northwest Arkansas Manager Vance Wilson appreciated the importance of the catch.

“Ultimately that game probably came down to their center fielder making one of the catches of the year,” Wilson said.

Melker’s catch preserved a 1-1 tie before the Travs batted around in the fifth inning and scored three runs on five hits - including a two-run double by Brian Hernandez and an RBI single by Kaleb Cowart - to chase Naturals starter Andy Ferguson (1-2) and take a 4-1 lead.

“I just got a pretty good jump, and that was it,” Melker said. “I was just glad I could make that catch. It was a big situation.”

Mark Threlkeld’s two-run home run pulled the Naturals within 4-3 in the sixth inning.

Jett Bandy led off the eighth inning with a home run to extend the Travs’ lead to 5-3 and Arkansas got a combined 3 1/3 shutout innings from relievers Carmine Giardina and David Carpenter.

“The bullpen came through like they’ve been doing all year long, and we scored enough,” Wellman said.

Arkansas starter Yeiper Castillo (3-2) pitched 5 2/3 innings.

“He wasn’t tremendously sharp, but he was sharp enough,” Wellman said. “He kept us in the game.”

Technically, the Travs beat the Naturals twice on Sunday. Their game that started Saturday night ended at 12:10 a.m. Sunday with a 5-4 Arkansas victory after Cowart led off the 15th inning with his third home run in three games, hitting the first pitch from Noel Arguelles over the left-field fence.

“It was a fastball, middle in,” Cowart said. “I was hoping he’d throw one, and he did, and I was just able to put a good swing on it.

“We battled our butts off, and it was a good game to win.”

Arkansas took a 1-0 lead in the third inning of Sunday afternoon’s game on singles by Alex Allbritton and Alex Yarbrough and Zach Borenstein’s RBI groundout.

The Naturals tied it 1-1 in the fourth inning when Jorge Bonifacio led off with a triple and scored on Whit Merrifield’s one-out single before Melker’s highlight catch.

Wellman coached Melker the previous two seasons at Springfield, Mo., in the Cardinals’ organization. Melker signed with the Angels on April 19 after being released by the Cardinals during spring training.

“He was probably one of the top three outfielders in that organization, but because they were so deep in prospect outfielders, he always came out on the short end,” said Wellman, who was Springfield’s hitting coach. “Their loss was our gain, because he can flat out play the outfield, and he’s swinging the bat well, too.”

Melker is batting .304 (17 for 56) in 15 games for the Travs.

Today’s game ARKANSAS

AT NORTHWEST ARKANSAS WHEN 7:05 p.m.

WHERE Arvest Ballpark, Springdale RADIO KARN-AM 920 in Central Arkansas, KQSM-FM 92.1 in Northwest Arkasas.

INTERNET www.travs.com or www.nwanaturals TICKETS $12 super premium, $10 premium, $8 reserved, $7 grass berm.

PROMOTIONS Ozarks Electric customers receive buy one, get one free reserved or premium tickets when purchased in person at Arvest Ballpark by showing your Ozarks Electric bill. $1 hot dogs.

PITCHERS Travelers: LHP Michael Roth (0-3, 5.48 ERA); Naturals: RHP J.C. Sulbaran (1-1, 3.57 ERA).

SHORT HOPS Travs second baseman Alex Yarbrough extended his hitting streak to 12 games, going 4 for 5 Sunday and raising his batting average to .317 … Travs third baseman Kaleb Cowart’s home run leading off the 15th inning Saturday night was his third home run in a three-game stretch. He had a single Sunday to extend his heating streak to seven games … About 175 dogs attended Sunday’s game as part of the Naturals “Bark in the Park” promotion. … By taking the first two games in the Arkansas-Northwest Arkansas matchups this season, the Travs improved to 83-104 all-time against the Naturals

TRAVELERS WEEK AHEAD

TODAY at Northwest Arkansas 7:05 p.m.

TUESDAY at Northwest Arkansas 11:05 a.m.

WEDNESDAY Off

THURSDAY vs Tulsa 7:10 p.m.

FRIDAY vs Tulsa 7:10 p.m.

SATURDAY vs Tulsa 7:10 p.m.

SUNDAY vs Tulsa 2:10 p.m.

NATURALS WEEK AHEAD

TODAY vs Arkansas 7:05 p.m.

TUESDAY vs Arkansas 11:05 a.m.

WEDNESDAY Off

THURSDAY vs Springfield 7:05 p.m.

FRIDAY vs Springfield 7:35 p.m.

SATURDAY vs Springfield 6:05 p.m.

SUNDAY vs Springfield 2:05 p.m.

Texas League

SATURDAY’S GAMES Arkansas 5, NW Arkansas 4, 15 innings Tulsa 8, Springfield 3 Frisco 3, Midland 1 Corpus Christi 4, San Antonio 1 SUNDAY’S GAMES Arkansas 5, NW Arkansas 3 San Antonio 6, Corpus Christi 4 Midland 4, Frisco 2 Tulsa 7, Springfield 3

TODAY’S GAMES All times Central

Tulsa at Springfield, 11:10 a.m.

Arkansas at NW Arkansas, 7:05 p.m.

Midland at Frisco, 7:05 p.m.

San Antonio at Corpus Christi, 7:10 p.m.

Sports, Pages 15 on 05/05/2014