Northwest Arkansas couldn't hold off a Tulsa comeback Thursday as Jacob Scavuzzo's ninth-inning home run gave the Drillers a 4-3 victory over the Naturals to start a four-game series at ONEOK Field in Tulsa.
Scavuzzo belted a 0-1 pitch from Kyle Bartsch (1-1) over the left-field fence with one out in the ninth for his sixth home run of the season as Tulsa (40-32 overall, 3-0 second half) bounced back from a 3-0 deficit and handed the Naturals their first loss during the second half of Texas League play.
Northwest Arkansas (31-42, 2-1) didn't allow Drillers starter Lisalverto Bonilla to make it through the fourth inning. Bubba Starling belted a solo home run, his fifth of the season, and Corey Toups added a two-run single, but that was all the scoring the Naturals could muster.
Tulsa picked up a run in the fifth on Shawn Zarraga's sacrifice fly in the fifth, then Cody Bellinger belted a two-run homer run in the seventh to chase Naturals starter Matt Strahm.
Ralston Cash (5-2), the fourth Drillers pitcher used, threw two perfect innings with three strikeouts and threw 18 strikes out of 19 pitches.
Northwest Arkansas first baseman Ryan O'Hearn had his 14-game hit streak snapped as he went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts.
The two teams will play again at 7:05 p.m. today as they resume the last series before the Texas League All-Star break. Northwest Arkansas will return home June 30 with a pair of three-game series against South Division teams Midland and Frisco.
Sports on 06/24/2016