SPRINGDALE -- Springfield found a little two-out magic to grab a 6-4 win over Northwest Arkansas and snap the Naturals' four-game winning streak Monday night in Arvest Ballpark.
Oscar Mercado tripled over the center fielder's head with two out in the top of the ninth to snap a 4-4 tie, and Nick Martini added an RBI-single to right to score Mercado.
Springfield 6, Northwest Arkansas 4
Springfield^030^010^002^—^6^11^1
Northwest Arkansas^200^101^000^—^4^12^0
Springfield^AB^R^H^RBI^BB^SO^LOB^AVG
Mercado, CF^5^1^1^1^0^1^1^.317
Martini, LF^4^1^2^1^1^1^0^.283
Garcia, RF^4^0^1^1^0^0^1^.320
Caldwell, 3B^3^1^1^0^1^1^1^.241
Wilson, J, SS^3^1^1^0^1^1^1^.231
Alvarez, E, 2B^4^0^0^0^0^2^4^.234
Lino, C^4^1^3^3^0^0^0^.346
Grayson, 1B^3^1^2^0^1^1^1^.250
Drake, DH^4^0^0^0^0^0^5^.220
Totals^34^6^11^6^4^7^14^
BATTING
2B: Garcia (4, Fernandez, P). 3B: Mercado (1, Newberry). HR: Lino (1, 2nd inning off Tenuta, 2 on, 1 out). TB: Lino 6; Grayson 2; Caldwell; Garcia 2; Mercado 3; Wilson, J; Martini 2. RBI: Lino 3 (6); Garcia (7); Mercado (7); Martini (10). 2-out RBI: Mercado; Martini.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Alvarez, E; Wilson, J. GIDP: Drake 2. Team RISP: 3-for-8. Team LOB: 5.
NW Arkansas^AB^R^H^RBI^BB^SO^LOB^AVG
Dewees Jr., CF^5^1^2^1^0^1^2^.263
Arteaga, SS^5^0^0^0^0^3^5^.200
Duenez, 1B^4^1^2^2^0^1^0^.304
Schwindel, DH^4^0^2^0^0^0^0^.359
Ramos, 3B^4^0^0^0^0^0^3^.276
Evans, C^4^2^2^0^0^0^1^.176
Moon, RF^4^0^3^0^0^0^0^.289
Sosa, R, LF^4^0^1^1^0^1^3^.268
Lopez, Jac, 2B^4^0^0^0^0^1^4^.227
Totals^38^4^12^4^0^7^18^
BATTING
2B: Evans (1, Alcantara). HR: Duenez (3, 1st inning off Alcantara, 1 on, 1 out). TB: Schwindel 2; Duenez 5; Evans 3; Moon 3; Sosa, R; Dewees Jr. 2.
RBI: Duenez 2 (22); Dewees Jr. (6); Sosa, R (6). 2-out RBI: Dewees Jr.. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Evans; Ramos; Arteaga 4. GIDP: Sosa, R. Team RISP: 3-for-12. Team LOB: 7.
Springfield^IP^H^R^ER^BB^SO^HR^ERA
Alcantara^6.0^12^4^4^0^4^1^5.91
Nielsen (W, 1-0)^2.0^0^0^0^0^1^0^9.82
Echemendia (S, 2)^1.0^0^0^0^0^2^0^3.38
NW Arkansas^IP^H^R^ER^BB^SO^HR^ERA
Tenuta^3.0^4^3^3^3^1^1^9.64
Fernandez, P^3.0^4^1^1^1^4^0^5.00
Selman (L, 1-2)^2.1^1^1^1^0^2^0^6.48
Newberry^0.2^2^1^1^0^0^0^0.93
WP: Alcantara; Newberry.
Umpires: HP: Jon Felczak. 1B: Kyle Wallace. 3B: Nate Tomlinson.
T: 2:48. Att: 3,468.
But Northwest Arkansas manager Vance Wilson said the big play in the inning though was a wild pitch by Naturals reliever Jake Newberry that moved a runner to second and forced Wilson to bring the outfield to medium depth.
Mercado followed with a shot over center fielder Donnie Dewees Jr. to score the lead run.
"If we're in normal position he probably catches that ball," Wilson said. "The hard one was the slider to the backstop. We can't have that."
But Wilson pointed to his team's inability to get down a sacrifice bunt in the sixth inning. The Naturals tied the game 4-4 on Ruben Sosa's squeeze bunt, but Jack Lopez's bunt went back to the pitcher, and Springfield was able to get the lead runner out at third.
"The game was lost on the sacrifice bunt," Wilson said. "We have to execute. We're that type of team. We have that type of players. To me, part of us learning is when you have horrible mechanics and technique, bad things happen. At some point, guys who have been here, a year, they've been here a while. That can't happen.
"Now, is somebody gonna make a good play every once in a while, but that was a lack of execution."
The Naturals took a 2-0 lead on a two-run home run by Samir Duenez, but Gabriel Lino responded with a three-run blast to give his team the lead in the second inning.
Dewees tied it with a two-out RBI-single in the fifth, but the Cardinals regained the lead only to have the Naturals tie it in the sixth on Ruben Sosa's squeeze bunt.
SHORT HOPS
• Northwest Arkansas managed 12 hits against Springfield starter Sandy Alcantera, who is rated as the No. 6 prospect in the St. Louis Cardinals organization by Baseball America. The hard-throwing right-hander struck out only four in six innings of work.
• Lopez had an automatic strike called leading off the bottom of the ninth for being too slow getting in the box. He struck out as the Naturals were retired in order.
• The Naturals game was rained out on Friday evening, which snapped a string of 111 consecutive games at Arvest Ballpark without a rainout. The last rainout was July 2015 per Naturals general manager Justin Cole. That includes six playoff games.
On Deck: Northwest Arkansas continues its four-game series against Springfield. The Naturals send right-hander Miguel Almonte (0-0 1.42 ERA) to the mound against left-hander Austin Gomber (1-1 4.91 ERA) tonight at 7:05.
Tonight's Promotion:Arvest customers can purchase $5 dugout premium tickets, along with two-for-one specials on kids zone wristbands and game programs. Brats are also $1 and groups of 20 or more can purchase $5 first-base and third-base reserved tickets in advance.
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Sports on 04/25/2017