SPRINGDALE -- Northwest Arkansas' latest streak has the Naturals headed in the wrong direction.
Jonathan Joseph and two Midland relievers combined for a five-hitter, and a two-out error in the first inning allowed the RockHounds to score enough runs to hand the Naturals their season-high sixth consecutive loss in a 2-0 decision Saturday at Arvest Ballpark.
Midland 2, Northwest Arkansas 0
Midland^200^000^000^—^2^5^0
NW Arkansas^000^000^000^—^0^5^1
Midland^AB^R^H^RBI^BB^SO^LOB^AVG
Angle, RF^3^1^1^0^1^1^1^.236
Oberacker, CF^3^0^0^0^0^1^1^.288
Pinder, SS^4^0^1^0^0^1^1^.298
Ravelo, 1B^3^1^0^0^1^2^1^.000
Maxwell, C^3^0^1^0^1^0^1^.257
Walsh, 2B^4^0^1^1^0^2^3^.282
Brugman, LF^4^0^0^0^0^1^3^.260
Kirkland, 3B^4^0^1^0^0^1^0^.200
Rickles, DH^3^0^0^0^0^1^1^.250
Totals^31^2^5^1^3^10^12^
2B: Kirkland (2). RBI: Walsh (34). SAC: Oberacker. Team LOB: 6. SB: Angle (14). CS: Angle (3).
NW Arkansas^AB^R^H^RBI^BB^SO^LOB^AVG
Torres, Ra, SS^3^0^1^0^1^1^0^.286
Starling, CF^4^0^1^0^0^1^1^.256
Bonifacio, J, RF^3^0^0^0^1^2^1^.237
Gore, PR^0^0^0^0^0^0^0^.298
Adams, L, LF^4^0^0^0^0^2^2^.249
Evans, C^4^0^1^0^0^1^1^.268
Dozier, 3B^3^0^2^0^0^0^0^.218
Liddi, 2B^3^0^0^0^0^0^3^.282
Schwindel, 1B^3^0^0^0^0^0^1^.214
Morin, P, DH^3^0^0^0^0^0^0^.339
Totals^30^0^5^0^2^7^9^
BATTING
2B: Dozier (20). Team LOB: 5. SB: Starling (2), Gore (32). CS: Torres, Ra (1, 2nd base by Joseph/Maxwell). E: Liddi (8, fielding).
Midland^IP^H^R^ER^BB^SO^HR^ERA
Joseph (W, 6-3)^7.0^5^0^0^1^5^0^2.45
Healy, T (H, 4)^1.0^0^0^0^0^0^0^1.86
Dull (S, 8)^1.0^0^0^0^1^2^0^0.46
NW Arkansas^IP^H^R^ER^BB^SO^HR^ERA
Dziedzic, J (L, 4-6)^5.0^4^2^0^2^7^0^3.83
Farrell^4.0^1^0^0^1^3^0^3.72
Pitches-strikes: Joseph 82-50, Healy, T 8-5, Dull 22-12, Dziedzic, J 89-58, Farrell 47-31.
Umpires: HP: Derek Eaton. 1B: Sean Allen. 3B: Ramon Hernandez.
T: 2:24. Att: 5,194.
Northwest Arkansas (44-41, 4-11) had only one runner reach third base as Hunter Dozier hit a one-out double in the fifth inning and moved over on Alex Liddi's grounder to second. The Naturals have gone 17 straight innings without scoring, with their last run coming in the sixth inning of the first game of Friday's doubleheader.
"We failed offensively, only because we just faced this guy the other night," Northwest Arkansas manager Vance Wilson said. "We knew what he was going to do. I thought we were pulling off the ball, knowing he was going to throw some off-speed pitches.
"We're a much better offensive club, and this was our fault. Obviously, he throws a shutout, but we prepared them. (Hitting coach) Brandon Moore did an incredible job preparing them but, in my opinion, we didn't maintain it in the game."
Joseph (6-3) issued a leadoff walk to Ramon Torres, then retired the next 11 batters before Bubba Starling hit a one-out single in the fourth. The right-hander allowed five hits and struck out five, while Tucker Healy and Ryan Dull each threw a hitless inning in relief.
Midland (45-41, 10-6) struggled offensively with only five hits against Northwest Arkansas starter Jonathan Dziedzic (4-6) and reliever Luke Farrell. The RockHounds, however, had runners on first and third when second baseman Liddi couldn't handle a Bruce Maxwell grounder, then Colin Walsh added an RBI single.
Short Hops
• Starling extended his hitting streak to 12 games with his one-out single in the fourth and has the Texas League's second-longest current stretch of its kind. Starling is 16-of-47 during that span with four multihit games.
• Dziedzic suffered the loss even though allowed just four hits through five innings and had seven strikeouts.
• Dozier also had a seventh-inning single and is now 15-of-48 against Midland. His hitting includes a home run, three doubles and six RBIs.
Extra Bases: Saturday's win gives the season series to Midland, who has a 7-3 edge of Northwest Arkansas with two games remaining this season. ... The Naturals were without shortstop Raul Mondesi, who was placed on the temporary inactive list so he could participate in today's Futures All-Star Game in Cincinnati. He will be joined in the game by former Naturals Cheslor Cuthbert and Balbino Fuenmayor.
On Deck: Northwest Arkansas and Midland continue their three-game series with a 6:05 p.m. game today at Arvest Ballpark. The Naturals will send right-hander Miguel Almonte (4-3, 4.06) to the mound, while the RockHounds will counter with right-hander Jake Sanchez (6-5, 5.03).
Today's Promotion: The first 1,000 fans to today's game will receive a Strike foam hand courtesy of Casey's General Stores. Kids also eat free during today's game and will get a chance to run the bases after the game.
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On The Web: www.nwanaturals.com
Sports on 07/12/2015