Naturals edge Travelers 8-6

SPRINGDALE -- Northwest Arkansas came through with clutch two-out hitting to outlast Arkansas 8-6 on Wednesday afternoon at Arvest Ballpark.

Logan Moon gave Northwest Arkansas the lead for good, slapping a two-out, two-run single up the middle to snap a 5-5 tie in the bottom of the seventh. The Naturals (2-0, 31-41) came through with two outs all day long, scoring six of their eight runs after two men were out.

Naturals manager Vance Wilson said his team did a good job hitting with two outs earlier in the season, but they have struggled lately.

"I think in the month of April we had like 40 two-out RBIs and going into this series we had like 15 this month," Wilson said. "It changes everything. The two-out hits sustain rallies. The guys did a good job up and down the lineup today.

"The last two games the guys have done a good job answering back when they scored. For Logan to stay under control, which is kinda his disease. He wants to get out of control. He's pretty hyper. But that was a great job, a big hit. We needed it."

The Travelers (0-2, 32-40) pulled within 7-6 in the eighth on Eric Aguilera's 10th home run of the season, a solo shot off Northwest Arkansas reliever Tim Hill. But the Naturals countered with an insurance run in the bottom of the inning as Terrance Gore singled, stole second and third and scored on Corey Toups' sacrifice fly.

Naturals closer Mark Peterson retired the Travelers in order with two strikeouts in the ninth to notch his first save.

Frank Schwindel went 3 for 4 and drove in a run to pace the Naturals' 14-hit attack. Gore, Mauricio Ramos and Jack Lopez added two hits each.

Arkansas trailed 5-2 after five innings, but rallied to tie the game with two runs in the sixth and one in the seventh. The first two batters in the seventh singled to put runners on first and third for the Travelers. Forrestt Allday then hit into a 4-6-3 double play to score the tying run, but Alex Yarbrough struck out to end the threat.

Arkansas manager Mark Parent said the difference was his team couldn't come back with a shutdown inning, after scoring against the Naturals.

"Simple fact is they just beat us today," Parent said. "We just made mistakes, got picked off. We did all kinds of silly things wrong that we haven't been doing. We get back to even, and then we give up a run next inning. It's disheartening for an offense that's not that good."

SHORT HOPS

• Ryan O'Hearn extended his hitting streak to 14 games with an RBI single in the third inning for the Naturals.

• Aguilera finished 4 for 4 and drove in two runs for the Travelers. Stephen McGee chipped in two hits and an RBI.

• Naturals starter Jake Junis picked off McGee in the sixth, which turned out to be big when the next batter, Angel Rosa, homered into the left-field bullpen to pull the Travelers within 5-4. Rosa snapped a 0-for-27 skid with his second home run of the season.

On Deck: The Naturals open a four-game series at Tulsa before the All-Star break. Right-hander Matt Strahm (2-6, 3.09 ERA) will start on the mound for the Naturals, while the Driller have not named a staring pitcher.

On The Air: KQSM-FM, 92.1

On The Web: www.nwanaturals.com.

Sports on 06/23/2016

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