SPRINGDALE -- Northwest Arkansas broke out of its offensive doldrums to begin the second half of Texas League play and snapped a five-game losing streak with a 9-2 win Tuesday over Arkansas at Arvest Ballpark.
Naturals starter Pedro Fernandez (1-2) picked up his first Double-A win, allowing two runs on four hits over 7.2 innings. He struck out five and walked one. The right-hander gave up a leadoff home run to Caleb Adams in the top of the first, but settled in nicely.
Northwest Arkansas backed the strong pitching effort with plenty of offense. Ryan O'Hearn's solo home run in the bottom of the third, his seventh in Double-A, gave the Naturals a 3-2 lead they would not relinquish. Northwest Arkansas (1-0, 30-41) scored more runs on Tuesday (nine) than they had in their last five games combined (eight).
Naturals manager Vance Wilson said his team delivered a strong all-around game.
"All the way around, the pitching was good, the defense was good and finally, the offense," Wilson said. "The offense did a great job approach-wise, staying on balls. The situational hitting, the big hit, we got it tonight.
"You talk about all the cliches of baseball, shutdown innings and our offense answered every time they scored. The kid (Fernandez) was awesome. He was really good tonight. He threw a lot of sliders that he got swing and misses on, which means it started as a strike where before it was a ball right out of his hand."
Lead-off man Corey Toups broke out of a 3-for-26 slump, going 2 for 4 with a walk, drove in two runs and scored three times. Mauricio Ramos led the Naturals' 13-hit attack, going 3 for 5, scored twice and drove in a run.
Arkansas manager Mark Parent said Travelers starter Victor Alcantara (2-4) fell behind in the count and the Naturals made him pay.
"They came out swinging today," Parent said. "He got behind some guys, and they got ready for some fastballs and they didn't miss'em. That's hitting. If you get your pitch, you don't miss it. We got some fastballs to hit and we took 'em for strikes."
Adams and Andy Phillips had two hits each, accounting for all of Arkansas' hits. Adams drove in both Arkansas runs, including an RBI double in the third that tied the game 2-2.
SHORT HOPS
• Northwest Arkansas took its first lead in 45 innings, scoring two in the bottom of the first for a 2-1 advantage.
• Kyle Bartsch pitched the final 1.1 innings, retiring all four Arkansas batters he faced, striking out one.
On Deck: The Naturals finish their series with Arkansas with a day game. Jake Junis (6-4 3.07 ERA) will start on the mound for Northwest Arkansas. Arkansas will counter with RHP Troy Scribner (5-3 3.96 ERA). First pitch is 12:05 p.m.
Today's Promotion: It's Summer Camp Day at Arvest Ballpark. Local campers and chaperones could purchase discounted tickets for the game if they were purchased in advance.
On The Air: KQSM-FM, 92.1
On The Web: www.nwanaturals.com.
Sports on 06/22/2016