SPRINGDALE -- Northwest Arkansas finally broke through with a second-half win Saturday night at Arvest Ballpark.
Lead-off man Lane Adams slapped a two-out, RBI-single into right-center field to lift the Naturals to a hard-fought 2-1 win over Tulsa in 11 innings.
NW Arkansas 2, Tulsa 1
Tulsa^000^000^001^00^—^1^10^0
NW Arkansas^000^000^100^01^—^2^10^0
Tulsa^AB^R^H^RBI^BB^SO^LOB^AVG
Torreyes, SS^5^0^1^0^0^3^0^.239
Burgamy, LF^4^0^2^0^0^1^0^.340
1-Lavin, PR-CF^0^1^0^0^0^0^0^.214
Drake, RF^5^0^4^0^0^0^1^.294
Anderson, La, 1B^4^0^0^0^1^1^5^.249
Farmer, 3B^5^0^1^1^0^1^4^.306
Zarraga, DH^4^0^1^0^0^2^1^.281
Samson, 2B^4^0^0^0^0^1^1^.207
Law, CF-LF^4^0^1^0^0^1^0^.246
Solis, C^4^0^0^0^0^3^1^.136
Totals^39^1^10^1^1^13^13^
1-Ran for Burgamy in the 9th.
2B: Farmer (7, Selman). TB: Drake 4; Zarraga; Torreyes; Law; Farmer 2; Burgamy 2. RBI: Farmer (10). SAC: Lavin. GIDP: Samson, Farmer. RISP: 2-for-5. LOB: 7. CS: Law (1, 2nd base by Selman/Gibbs). PO: Law (1st base by Selman). DP: (Samson-Anderson, La).
NW Arkansas^AB^R^H^RBI^BB^SO^LOB^AVG
Adams, L, RF^4^0^1^1^1^1^2^.266
Starling, CF^5^0^1^0^0^4^3^.230
Liddi, 2B^5^0^0^0^0^3^3^.278
Fuenmayor, 1B^4^0^1^0^0^0^2^.343
Bonifacio, J, DH^5^1^3^0^0^0^2^.247
Dozier, 3B^5^1^1^0^0^2^4^.208
Gibbs, C^3^0^0^0^2^1^3^.275
Diekroeger, SS^5^0^1^1^0^1^4^.267
Gore, LF^5^0^2^0^0^2^2^.269
Totals^41^2^10^2^3^14^25^
2B: Bonifacio, J 2 (14, De Leon, Jos, Cash). TB: Diekroeger; Gore 2; Dozier; Bonifacio, J 5; Starling; Adams, L; Fuenmayor. RBI: Diekroeger (8), Adams, L (14). GIDP: Fuenmayor. RISP: 3-for-16. LOB: 12. DP: 2 (Diekroeger-Liddi-Fuenmayor, Diekroeger-Fuenmayor). Pickoffs: Selman (Law at 1st base).
Tulsa^IP^H^R^ER^BB^SO^HR^ERA
De Leon, Jos^6.0^2^0^0^2^7^0^3.60
Dennick^0.1^3^1^1^0^0^0^4.50
Rhame^1.2^2^0^0^0^3^0^2.60
Horst^2.0^0^0^0^0^2^0^1.60
Cash (L, 0-4)^0.2^3^1^1^1^2^0^3.19
NW Arkansas^IP^H^R^ER^BB^SO^HR^ERA
Dziedzic, J^5.0^3^0^0^0^6^0^3.73
Farrell^3.0^2^0^0^0^5^0^4.61
Selman (BS, 1)^2.0^3^1^1^0^2^0^3.73
Nina (W, 3-2)^1.0^2^0^0^1^0^0^6.18
WP: De Leon, Jos, Dennick. IBB: Gibbs (by De Leon, Jos), Gibbs (by Cash). mHBP: Adams, L (by De Leon, Jos), Fuenmayor (by De Leon, Jos). Umpires: HP: Scott Costello. 1B: Mike Cascioppo. 3B: Jake Wilburn. T: 3:07. Att: 5,512.
Northwest Arkansas, which won the first-half Texas League North Division title, improved to 1-4 in the second half. Tulsa dropped to 4-1.
The Naturals have struggled offensively lately, losing nine of their last 10. But Northwest Arkansas manager Vance Wilson said the pitching was outstanding as four Naturals combined to allow just one run. Adams, who had been in a 1-for-23 slump, also came up with the big hit.
"Off the schnide, huh?" Wilson said. "The biggest thing that went right tonight was the pitching. Even the run we gave up in the ninth. The guy flared it to right. Sam Selman did a good job. Nina was able to pitch out of trouble, too."
"Lane's been scuffling, but he's been battling, battling. And there you go. So hopefully that's the thing we needed going into the All-Star break. I was proud of the pitching staff."
Jorge Bonifacio led off the bottom of the 11th with a double down the left-field line off Drillers reliever Ralston Cash (0-4). Northwest Arkansas loaded the bases on Terrance Gore's two-out infield chopper and Adams ended it with his single just out of the reach of Tulsa center fielder Peter Lavin.
The Drillers tied the game in the top of the ninth on Kyle Farmer's two-out RBI-double down the right-field line.
Tulsa manager Razor Shines is still pleased with how his team is playing in the second half, despite Saturday's loss.
"That's baseball right there," Shines said. "Both teams showed some fight. It was a good game. But I'm excited about how this team is playing right now."
The Naturals took a 1-0 lead in the seventh on Diekroeger's RBI single.
Short Hops
• Tulsa starting pitcher Jose De Leon, rated as the No. 6 prospect in the Los Angeles Dodgers' system by Baseball America, pitched six scoreless innings, allowing just two hits. He had won his last two starts.
• Naturals reliever Aroni Nina worked out of a big-time jam in the top of the 11th as the Drillers loaded the bases with one out. But the right-hander, who improved to 3-2 with the win, got Farmer to ground into an inning-ending 6-3 double play.
Extra Bases: Naturals starter Jonathan Dziedzic pitched five scoreless inning, allowing just three hits, striking out five and not walking a man. ... Bonifacio's two doubles were the Naturals' only extra-base hits out of the 10 they collected as a team. ... Drillers outfielder Yadir Drake went 4-for-5 with four singles.
On Deck: The Naturals finish a four-game series with Tulsa with a 2:05 p.m. start. LHP Cody Reed, called up from Class A advanced Wilmington earlier this week,will make his Naturals debut. He will be opposed by RHP Jeremy Kehrt (4-5, 4-5 3.05 ERA) for the Drillers. It is also the last game before the All-Star break.
Today's Promotion: Kids 12 and younger eat free and can run the bases following the game.
On The Air: KQSM-FM 92.1
On The Web: www.nwanaturals.com
Sports on 06/28/2015