Naturals, RoughRiders game suspended

Players and fans wait Tuesday, May 23, 2017, after the stadium lights shut off during the Northwest Arkansas Naturals' game with Frisco during the fifth inning at Arvest Ballpark. Visit nwadg.com/photos to see more photographs from the game.
Players and fans wait Tuesday, May 23, 2017, after the stadium lights shut off during the Northwest Arkansas Naturals' game with Frisco during the fifth inning at Arvest Ballpark. Visit nwadg.com/photos to see more photographs from the game.

SPRINGDALE -- It was a Naturals disaster.

photo

NWA Democrat-Gazette

Players and fans wait Tuesday after the stadium lights shut off during the Northwest Arkansas Naturals’ game with Frisco during the fifth inning at Arvest Ballpark.

photo

NWA Democrat-Gazette

A fan walks around Arvest Ballpark after the stadium lights shut off Tuesday.

At 8:41 p.m., a light failure Arvest Ballpark resulted in a suspended game between Northwest Arkansas and Frisco on Tuesday. It will be resumed at 11:05 a.m. today with the Naturals leading 6-5 in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Today's scheduled game will begin 30 minutes after the conclusion of the suspended contest.

Alfredo Escalera drove in four runs in the first two innings to help the Naturals erase an early deficit and take a 6-2 lead. He highlighted a five-run second inning when he chased in three with a bases-loaded doubleoff the top of the Coca-Cola sign in left field.

Meanwhile, Juremi Profar continued his hot hitting for Frisco by driving in all three of the Roughriders' runs. He stroked a two-run double to right-center field in the first and pushed across a run on a fielder's choice in the third to trim the deficit to 6-3. Profar entered Tuesday with four three-hit outings in the past 11 games.

Frisco's Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit an RBI triple in the top of the fifth and scored on a sacrifice fly to make it 6-5.

Naturals starter Corey Ray struggled with command for the most part, save for a stretch when he retired six batters in a row. He allowed five earned runs on four hits and three walks. Frisco starter Collin Wiles gave up seven hits but only two earned runs, thanks to a throwing error during Northwest Arkansas' five-run second inning.

Fans at Tuesday's game can exchange their tickets at the box office for entry into any game during the final five of the current homestand.

Short Hops

• An odd play resulted in umpires making an incorrect ruling in the top of the second. With a 2-2 pitch count, Frisco's Eric Aguilera swung and missed at a pitch. On his follow-through, Aguilera's bat knocked the ball out of catcher Allan de San Miguel's mitt. Home plate umpire Nate Tomlinson initially ruled it a strikeout, but after a conference with field umpires, it was called a foul ball. By rule, Tomlinson's initial call of a strikeout was correct because the batter's momentum from his swing carried him into the catcher. The next pitch, Aguilera reached on an error.

• de San Miguel injured his leg running bases in the second inning. He began the third inning behind the plate before exiting after one batter and being replaced by Zane Evans, the only other catcher on NWA's roster.

• With triples by Ruben Sosa Jr. and Jack Lopez to lead off the first and second innings, respectively, NWA increased its Texas League-leading team triples total to 14.

On Deck: Following the conclusion of Tuesday's suspended game, the Naturals will continue their six-game homestand with the second game of a three-game series against Frisco today. For the Naturals, left-hander Matt Tenuta (2-1, 7.02 ERA) will take the mound for his eighth start while the Roughriders counter with right-hander Connor Sadzeck (2-2, 4.34). Tenuta, a 25th round draft pick out of Apex (N.C.) High in 2012, last picked up the win in a rain-shortened 5-4 victory at Springfield on May 19. He allowed three earned runs on four hits in three innings. Sadzeck, a 6-foot-7, 240-pounder who was drafted in the 12th round out of Howard College in Texas in 2011, allowed one run on three hits in eight innings, but did not get the decision in a 2-1 loss against Corpus Christi on May 19.

TRAVELERS 7,

ROCKHOUNDS 1

LITTLE ROCK — Chuck Taylor hit a run-scoring double in the first inning, leading the Arkansas Travelers to a 7-1 win over the Midland Rock-Hounds on Tuesday.

The double by Taylor started the scoring in a four run inning and gave the Travelers a 1-0 lead. Later in the inning, Tyler Marlette hit an RBI single and Kyle Petty hit a two-run double.

The Travelers later added a run in the second and two in the fifth. In the second, Gianfranco Wawoe hit an RBI single, while Keury De La Cruz and Petty hit RBI singles in the fifth.

Arkansas right-hander Dylan Unsworth (2-4) picked up a quality start and the win after allowing one run on six hits over 7 1/3 innings. Opposing starter Corey Walter (2-1) took the loss in the Texas League game after a rough outing in which he allowed seven runs and 11 hits over six innings.

Yairo Munoz had a pair of hits for the RockHounds.

Sports on 05/24/2017

Upcoming Events