Minor league baseball: Naturals sweep doubleheader from Drillers

SPRINGDALE -- Logan Moon knew he had to hurry home when Samir Duenez hit a ground ball directly to Tulsa second baseman Jose Fernandez.

Fernandez, however, bobbled the ball just enough to allow Moon to cross the plate for the winning run Saturday as Northwest Arkansas rallied for a 3-2 victory over Tulsa in the first game of a Texas League doubleheader at Arvest Ballpark.

Game 1

Naturals 3, Drillers 2

Tulsa^010^010^0^—^2^9^2

NW Arkansas^000^002^1^—^3^9^0

Two outs when winning run scored.

Tulsa^AB^R^H^RBI^BB^SO^LOB^AVG

Locastro, DH^4^0^0^0^0^1^0^.340

Mejia, E, SS^4^1^3^0^0^1^0^.500

Garlick, LF^3^0^1^1^0^1^2^.262

Rios, 3B^3^0^0^0^0^1^2^.333

Sawyer, W, C^3^0^1^0^0^1^0^.273

Fernandez, 2B^3^1^3^1^0^0^0^.340

Allie, RF^2^0^1^0^1^0^2^.241

Beaty, 1B^3^0^0^0^0^1^4^.167

Landon, CF^3^0^0^0^0^0^0^.200

Totals^28^2^9^2^1^6^10^

BATTING

2B: Allie (2, Binford); Garlick (1, Binford). 3B: Mejia, E (1, Binford). HR: Fernandez (2, 2nd inning off Binford, 0 on, 1 out). TB: Fernandez 6; Allie 2; Garlick 2; Sawyer, W; Mejia, E 5. RBI: Fernandez (5); Garlick (8). 2-out RBI: Garlick. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Beaty 3; Rios.

GIDP: Beaty; Allie. Team RISP: 1-for-5. Team LOB: 6.

NW Arkansas^AB^R^H^RBI^BB^SO^LOB^AVG

Dewees Jr., CF^3^0^1^0^1^0^3^.240

Escalera, LF^3^1^3^0^1^0^0^.327

Duenez, 1B^4^1^1^1^0^0^5^.298

Schwindel, DH^3^0^1^0^0^0^1^.327

Gore, PR-DH^0^0^0^0^0^0^0^.150

Ramos, 3B^3^0^0^0^0^0^3^.294

Arteaga, SS^3^0^1^1^0^0^2^.205

Evans, C^2^0^0^0^1^1^2^.119

Moon, RF^3^1^2^0^0^1^1^.200

Sosa, R, 2B^1^0^0^0^1^0^2^.281

Totals^25^3^9^2^4^2^19^

3B: Escalera (2, Vieitez). TB: Arteaga; Moon 2; Schwindel; Duenez; Dewees Jr.; Escalera 5. RBI: Arteaga (2); Duenez (15). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Schwindel; Moon; Duenez; Evans. SAC: Sosa, R.

GIDP: Duenez; Arteaga; Dewees Jr..

Team RISP: 2-for-13. Team LOB: 5.

PITCHING

Tulsa^IP^H^R^ER^BB^SO^HR^ERA

Vieitez^4.1^4^0^0^3^2^0^2.84

Copping (L, 0-1)^2.0^4^3^2^0^0^0^2.16

Paredes, Edw^0.1^1^0^0^1^0^0^5.06

NW Arkansas^IP^H^R^ER^BB^SO^HR^ERA

Binford^6.0^9^2^2^1^5^1^2.50

Fernandez, P^0.2^0^0^0^0^0^0^6.00

Selman (W, 1-1)^0.1^0^0^0^0^1^0^7.50

IBB: Escalera (by Paredes, Edw).

Umpires: HP: Jeff Gorman. 1B: Grant Conrad. 3B: Kyle McCrady.

T: 2:00.

Game 2

Naturals 5, Drillers 3

Tulsa^101^100^0^—^3^4^1

NW Arkansas^032^000^x^—^5^8^1

Tulsa^AB^R^H^RBI^BB^SO^LOB^AVG

Locastro, 2B^3^0^0^0^0^1^0^.320

Mejia, E, SS^3^0^0^0^0^0^0^.364

Garlick, DH^2^1^1^1^0^1^0^.273

Hoenecke, 3B^2^0^1^0^1^0^0^.220

Farmer, C^3^0^0^0^0^2^3^.279

Sawyer, W, 1B^3^1^1^1^0^1^2^.278

Allie, RF^2^0^0^0^1^2^0^.226

Scavuzzo, LF^3^0^0^0^0^1^1^.161

Landon, CF^3^1^1^1^0^1^0^.231

Totals^24^3^4^3^2^9^6^

BATTING

2B: Hoenecke (2, Ray). HR: Garlick (3, 1st inning off Ray, 0 on, 2 out); Landon (1, 3rd inning off Ray, 0 on, 0 out); Sawyer, W (1, 4th inning off Ray, 0 on, 2 out). TB: Landon 4; Hoenecke 2; Sawyer, W 4; Garlick 4. RBI: Garlick (9); Landon (1); Sawyer, W (2). 2-out RBI: Garlick; Sawyer, W. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Farmer.

GIDP: Sawyer, W. Team RISP: 0-for-3. Team LOB: 3.

NW Arkansas^AB^R^H^RBI^BB^SO^LOB^AVG

Dewees Jr., LF^2^0^1^2^1^0^0^.250

Escalera, RF^3^0^1^0^0^0^1^.328

Duenez, DH^3^1^0^0^0^0^1^.283

Schwindel, 1B^3^1^2^1^0^0^1^.345

Ramos, 3B^3^0^1^0^0^0^1^.296

Arteaga, SS^2^1^1^1^1^1^0^.217

de San Miguel, C^3^0^0^0^0^1^3^.083

Lopez, Jac, 2B^3^1^1^0^0^0^2^.256

Gore, CF^3^1^1^1^0^0^2^.174

Totals^25^5^8^5^2^2^11^

BATTING

2B: Schwindel (4, Sopko). 3B: Dewees Jr. (1, Sopko). TB: Schwindel 3; Arteaga; Gore; Lopez, Jac; Ramos; Dewees Jr. 3; Escalera. RBI: Gore (1); Dewees Jr. 2 (5); Schwindel (11); Arteaga (3). 2-out RBI: Gore; Dewees Jr. 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Escalera; Gore 2.

GIDP: Ramos. Team RISP: 4-for-8. Team LOB: 4.

PITCHING

Tulsa^IP^H^R^ER^BB^SO^HR^ERA

Sopko (L, 0-1)^3.0^7^5^4^1^1^0^12.00

Sierra^3.0^1^0^0^1^1^0^3.12

NW Arkansas^IP^H^R^ER^BB^SO^HR^ERA

Ray (W, 1-1)^5.0^4^3^3^1^6^3^5.14

Rico, L (H, 1)^1.0^0^0^0^1^1^0^4.15

Beal (S, 2)^1.0^0^0^0^0^2^0^1.42

Balk: Sierra. HBP: Garlick (by Rico, L).

Umpires: HP: Grant Conrad. 1B: Kyle McCrady. 3B: Jeff Gorman.

T: 1:57. Att: 4,574.

"I was hoping it was going to be slow enough where, if he fielded it, I could maybe slide in there safely," Moon said. "Once I saw him bobble it, I knew it was game over.

"Once you see it on the ground, you duck your head and go. I peeked up and saw him bobble it, then I knew not to slide."

Moon led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a solid single to center and moved to second on Ruben Sosa's sacrifice bunt. Donnie Dewees Jr. then hit a grounder to second, but beat Matt Beaty's throw to first for an infield single to put runners at the corners with one out.

Tulsa elected to intentionally walk Alfredo Escalera and face Duenez with a drawn-in infield for a possible force out at the plate. The Drillers got what they wanted when Duenez hit the ball to Fernandez, but the bobble only allowed him to throw to first -- for the second out of the inning as Moon came home.

"I think the biggest thing is the pitching and catching were outstanding," Naturals manager Vance Wilson said. "Binford was keeping us in it until the offense could get something going. Obviously we took advantage of a couple of their mistakes, but the guys were aggressive and played hard."

Northwest Arkansas had nothing to show for its earlier scoring chances through the first five innings. Tulsa, meanwhile, scored in the second inning when Fernandez hit a solo home run in the second, then made it 2-0 on Kyle Garlick's two-out RBI double in the fifth.

The Naturals, however, loaded the bases with consecutive singles by Escalera, Duenez and Frank Schwindel to open the sixth. Tulsa appeared to be out of the inning unscathed after Mauricio Ramos fouled out to first and Humberto Arteaga grounded to second, but Fernandez threw wildly to first on an attempt to complete the double play, allowing both Escalera and Duenez to come home with the tying runs.

Sam Selman (1-1) retired the only batter he faced in the seventh and recorded the win.

Northwest Arkansas 5, Tulsa 3

The Naturals did all of their offensive damage in the second and third innings in order to sweep Saturday's doubleheader against the Drillers and clinch their first series of the season.

Northwest Arkansas (7-8) spotted Tulsa (6-9) a home run by Garlick in the first inning, then took the lead for good in the second. Terrance Gore tied it when he singled past a diving Wynston Sawyer to drive in Humberto Arteaga, who reached on a walk, then Dewees belted a two-run triple into the gap in right-center field to give the Naturals a 3-1 cushion.

Schwindel followed a third-inning Tulsa error with a double to drive in Duenez, then he scored Northwest Arkansas' final run on a single by Arteaga.

Corey Ray (1-1) allowed just four hits and struck out six over five innings, but three of those hits were solo home runs. Luis Rico pitched out of a two-on, no-out jam in the sixth, and Evan Beal threw a perfect seventh for his second save.

Sports on 04/23/2017

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