Baseball: Frisco earns sweep of Nats behind Profar's big night

SPRINGDALE -- Frisco's Juremi Profar entered Thursday night on a roll at the plate and left Arvest Ballpark sizzling and with three straight wins in hand.

The RoughRiders (22-25) third baseman starred in Frisco's 5-3 win and gifted his club a three-game sweep of the Naturals. He went 4-for-4 on the night -- extending his hitting streak to six games -- with four RBI, including a solo shot in the eighth inning.

"I'm focused and trying to do the same things every night," said Profar, who has a hit in 14 of his last 26 at-bats. "I'm going through my routine and that's been going good right now."

His run-scoring single in the first inning got the RoughRiders on the board early, then, in the fifth inning, drove in two more with an RBI double. His eighth-inning home run then capped an impressive night. As a team, Frisco pounded out 12 hits to the Naturals' six.

"We've been battling pretty much all year," Frisco manager Joe Mikulik said. "It's hard to win at any level. And this is a tough level. Guys are learning on the fly. ... We made some plays and had some big hits.

"Profar just swung the bat well tonight," he continued. "He had a big home run for us to give us some insurance runs and those are the things we weren't getting. This game's funny. You just keep battling."

Naturals manager Vance Wilson was less than pleased with his offense's showing Thursday. Ruben Sosa Jr. led off the home first with a solo home run, but the Naturals mustered just one hit over the next four innings.

"We took a lot of non-competitive at-bats," Wilson said. "I'm kind of disappointed in our approach. I hope this one hurts. We didn't execute, we didn't play very good. It's a little embarrassing to get swept. I hope it hurts on the guys a little bit."

Frisco starter Ariel Jurado was effective and earned his fifth win of the season. He surrendered just two runs on four hits over six innings.

SHORT HOPS

• Ruben Sosa Jr.'s leadoff home run for the Naturals was the 54th home run the RoughRiders' pitching staff has allowed this season, the most in the Texas League. In the last 10 games, opponents have hit 15 home runs against Frisco.

• Naturals righthander Pedro Fernandez turned 23 years old Thursday. This season he boasts a 3.76 earned run average and is allowing opponents to hit under .300 against him. He went three innings, giving up four hits and two runs in the loss.

On Deck: The Naturals travel to Midland for a weekend set. The RockHounds will send right-hander Heath Fillmyer (2-2, 3.20 ERA) to the mound tonight against Northwest Arkansas righty Zach Lovvorn (2-3, 5.05 ERA).

On The Air: 92.1 FM, The Ticket

On The Web: www.nwanaturals.com

OTHER GAMES

ROCKHOUNDS 8, TRAVELERS 1 Tyler Marincov hit a three-run home run and had two hits, driving in five, and Grant Holmes allowed just two hits over six innings as the Midland RockHounds topped the Arkansas Travelers 8-1 on Thursday. Holmes (3-4) picked up the win after he struck out six and walked three while allowing one run. Midland had a pair of big innings in the blowout victory, scoring four runs in both the first and fourth innings. In the first, Marincov hit a two-run triple, while Marincov hit a three-run home run in the fourth.

HOOKS 4, CARDINALS 3 Kristian Trompiz hit a walk-off single with two outs in the 10th inning, as the Corpus Christi Hooks topped the Springfield Cardinals 4-3 on Thursday. Antonio Nunez scored the game-winning run after he reached base on a walk and advanced to second on a single by Garrett Stubbs. After Springfield’s Alex Mejia scored on a forceout in the top of the ninth, Corpus Christi tied the game 3-3 in the bottom of the inning when Jack Mayfield drew a bases-loaded walk, scoring Stubbs.

— THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Sports on 05/26/2017

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