Baseball: Lopez powers Naturals to comeback victory

Terrance Gore (0) of the Northwest Arkansas Naturals runs to first safely after a bunt against the Arkansas Travelers on Monday at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale.
Terrance Gore (0) of the Northwest Arkansas Naturals runs to first safely after a bunt against the Arkansas Travelers on Monday at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale.

SPRINGDALE --Jack Lopez enjoyed his return to Arvest Ballpark on Monday.

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Jack Lopez (1) of the Northwest Arkansas Naturals celebrates with teammates his two-run home run against the Arkansas Travelers on Monday at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale.

Lopez hit two home runs and drove in three to lead Northwest Arkansas past Arkansas, 6-5, before a crowd of 2,847 at Arvest Ballpark. The Naturals went ahead 6-5 in the eight inning on a bases-loaded walk to Logan Moon, the third walk of the inning.

Reliever Kevin McCarthy got the final two outs for Northwest Arkansas (18-18), which began an eight-game homestand after losing three of four on the road at Springfield, Mo. Left-hander Eric Skoglund provided a quality start by pitching 6 2/3 innings for the Naturals.

"For the most part, I was very proud of the guys battling back," Northwest Arkansas manager Vance Wilson said. "Skog struggled early with his pitches, but he did a nice job getting us to the seventh inning."

Arkansas grabbed a 4-0 lead in the second inning with the help of five singles and two errors on one play by Northwest Arkansas. Frank Schwindel homered to left field before Lopez cut the Arkansas lead to 5-4 with a two-run home run in the fifth.

Lopez then tied the game 5-5 in the seventh with his second consecutive home run and third homer of the season. Schwindel had a single and hit a two-run home run after Arkansas had taken a 4-0 lead.

"He's got some power," Wilson said of Lopez, who took over at shortstop after Raul Mondesi was suspended 50 games for use of a banned substance. "We changed his stance a little bit, which has really helped."

Catcher Anthony Bemboom had a double and single to lead Arkansas (13-24), which outhit the Naturals 11-7.

SHORT HOPS

• Northwest Arkansas committed two errors on the same play in the second inning, when Arkansas scored four runs. Eric Aguilera hit an RBI single to centerfield, where Bubba Starling made a fielding error to allow a second runner to score. The relay throw by shortstop Jack Lopez to the plate was high and allowed Aguilera to move to second base.

• Terrence Gore, who is 8-for-8 in stolen bases with the Kansas City Royals, displayed his speed in the second inning for the Naturals. Gore laid down a bunt to the right of the mound and easily reached first base before the pitcher or first baseman could make a play.

• Northwest Arkansas starter Eric Skoglund left in the seventh inning after posting consecutive strikeouts. Skoglund allowed nine hits and four earned runs while throwing 100 pitches. Arkansas starter Troy Scribner allowed four hits and four runs in five inning.

On Deck: The series continues at 7:05 p.m. tonight with right-hander Alec Mills (1-1, 2.36 ERA) going for the Naturals and right-hander Jordan Kipper (2-2, 4.61) going for the Travelers.

Promotion: $4 group night (minimum of 20 tickets), $1 brats at grill carts, buy one shirt, get one t-shirt free at team store.

On The Air: KQSM-FM 92.1

On The Web: www.nwanaturals

Sports on 05/17/2016

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