Baseball: Travelers Power Past Naturals

SPRINGDALE -- Backup catcher Zach Zaneski made sure Arkansas rolled into the Texas League playoffs on a winning note Monday afternoon.

Zaneski went 2-for-4 and hit a pair of two-run home runs to help the Travelers claim a 6-3 victory over the Naturals in the season finale at Arvest Ballpark.

How They Scored

Arkansas 6, Northwest Arkansas 3

Arkansas^002^000^202^—^6^7^1

NWA^001^002^000^3^11^0

Sneed, Spomer (6), Johnson (6), Brady (8), Diaz (9) and Zeneski; Farrell, Sulbaran (7), Arguilles (9) and Gibbs. W-Johnson, 4-4. L-Sulbaran, 8-10. Sv-Diaz, (11). HRs- Arkansas, Zaneski 2 (2,3).

At A Glance

Texas League Standings

North Division

Team^W-L^GB

Arkansas^41-29^—

Springfield^34-36^7.0

Tulsa^33-37^8.0

Northwest Arkansas^28-42^13.0

Monday’s Scores

Arkansas 6, Northwest Arkansas 3

Springfield 9, Tulsa 8.

The Travelers (41-29, 75-65) will open the Texas League playoffs at Tulsa, which won the North Division first half crown, at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday. The Naturals finished 28-42 in the second half and 53-87 overall.

Zaneski's first one came in the top of the seventh off Naturals reliever J.C. Sulbaran (8-10) to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 lead. The second one came in the ninth to set the final score.

Zaneski's home runs wiped out a chance for Luke Farrell to earn his first Double-A win. The 6-foot-6 right-hander allowed two runs on just three hits over six inning. He struck out six and did not walk a batter and left with the 3-2 lead.

Naturals manager Vance Wilson said it was big for Farrell, the son of major league manager John Farrell, to finish on a high note.

"At this point, it's more about trying to get guys to get a good individual feeling rolling into the winter," Wilson said. "For a kid like that who has the baseball pedigree and background to be able to get a taste of what it's like and what he has to do to be successful against a good team and to get us innings which we needed, that was big for us.

"The guys played hard, good energy. The guys have been going since January. I've never had a complaint about their work."

It was Farrell's second Double-A start after taking the loss Wednesday at Tulsa. He spent much of the season at Class A Wilmington.

Edinson Rincon, Ethan Chapman and Justin Trapp had two hits each for the Naturals. Rincon's two-run double in the bottom of the sixth gave the Naturals a short-lived 3-2 lead.

Northwest Arkansas got on the board in the third inning thanks to an RBI-double by Orlando Calixte in the third to pull within 2-1. Travelers starter Kramer Sneed stranded Naturals at second and third though as he struck out Mitch Maier and got Hunter Dozier to fly out to limit the damage.

Short Hops

• The Naturals had just two position players available off the bench for Monday's game thanks to a variety of roster moves.

• The roster carousel continued even on the final day of the season for the Naturals. Relievers Malcom Culver and Andrew Triggs were both transferred to Triple-A Omaha on Monday. Sulbaran and Rincon were activated from the 7-day disabled list before Monday's game.

Royals Pipeline: Whit Merrifield, who hit .278 in 44 games for the Naturals before being promoted to Triple-A Omaha, went 2-for-5, drove in a run, scored twice and stole a base in Omaha's 13-8 win over Colorado Springs on Sunday. That win clinched the Pacific Coast League American Conference North title for the Storm Chasers. Merrifield is hitting .344 in 75 games for Omaha. He has scored 57 runs, drove in 29 and stolen 11 bases.

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Sports on 09/02/2014

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