Minor league baseball: Arteaga, Ogando shine in Naturals' victory

SPRINGDALE -- Humberto Arteaga's bat struck before the lightning had a chance to make an appearance Saturday night at Arvest Ballpark.

Northwest Arkansas' shortstop enjoyed a three-hit game and drove in a couple of runs as the Naturals claimed a 3-2 victory over Midland and clinched a series win over the defending Texas League champions. It's the first series win for Northwest Arkansas (24-23) over a South Division team this season.

Naturals 3, RockHounds 2

Midland^000^100^010^—^2^6^1

NW Arkansas^001^020^00X^—^3^8^0

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

Vertigan, CF^4^1^2^1^0^1^1^.312

Munoz, Y, DH^4^0^0^0^0^1^3^.250

Boyd, LF^3^0^0^1^0^0^2^.322

Marincov, RF^3^0^0^0^1^3^0^.261

Rosa, V, 1B^4^0^2^0^0^1^1^.250

Sportman, 2B^4^0^0^0^0^1^2^.275

Paz, C^2^0^0^0^1^0^1^.245

Martin, SS^3^0^0^0^0^1^1^.245

Tarsovich, 3B^3^1^2^0^0^0^0^.213

Totals^30^2^6^2^2^8^11^

2B: Vertigan (13); Rosa, V (10). 3B: Tarsovich (3, Redman). TB: Vertigan 3; Tarsovich 4; Rosa, V 3. RBI: Boyd (21); Vertigan (14). SF: Boyd. Team RISP: 1-for-4. Team LOB: 4. E: Sportman (2).

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

Lopez, Jac, 3B^3^0^0^0^1^1^1^.282

Hernandez, E, LF^4^0^1^0^0^1^0^.310

Duenez, DH^3^2^1^0^1^0^2^.267

Ramos, 1B^3^0^1^0^1^1^1^.258

Arteaga, SS^4^1^3^2^0^1^3^.284

Dewees Jr., CF^4^0^1^0^0^2^5^.225

Sosa, R, 2B^3^0^1^1^0^0^0^.268

Moon, RF^4^0^0^0^0^0^5^.245

Villegas, Lu, C^4^0^0^0^0^1^1^.000

Totals^32^3^8^3^3^7^18^

BATTING

2B: Duenez (8); Arteaga (7). RBI: Arteaga 2 (12); Sosa, R (15). 2-out RBI: Sosa, R. Team RISP: 3-for-12. Team LOB: 9.

DP: 1 Pickoffs: Ogando (Sportman at 1st base).

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

Graves (L, 1-1)^4.2^6^3^3^3^6^0^3.18

Finnegan^2.1^2^0^0^0^1^0^2.49

Trivino^1.0^0^0^0^0^0^0^1.57

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

Ogando (W, 3-2)^7.0^4^1^1^2^4^0^2.28

Redman (H, 3)^1.0^2^1^1^0^1^0^5.55

Selman (S, 3)^1.0^0^0^0^0^3^0^3.97

WP: Graves. HBP: Sosa, R (by Graves). Pitches-strikes: Graves 95-56; Finnegan 39-26; Trivino 8-6; Ogando 84-54; Redman 19-14; Selman 16-11.

Umpires: HP: Tyler Olson. 1B: Sean Allen. 3B: Malachi Moore.

T: 2:40. Att: 4,154.

"For whatever reason, the North doesn't play well against the South, especially Frisco," Naturals manager Vance Wilson said. "They came in and swept us, and I thought we beat ourselves. To rebound like we did last night, then to come in and win a close one is big."

Arteaga put Northwest Arkansas on the board first as his third-inning single drove in Samir Duenez, who drew a one-out walk. Arteaga did it again in the fifth when he hit a double into left-center and drove Duenez, who led off the inning wth a double to right.

Arteaga almost was thrown out at second, but a move with his hands as he slid into the base helped him avoid the tag. He then scored on a two-out single by Ruben Sosa Jr. as he slid into home just before the tag.

"It's part of it," Wilson said of Arteaga's base running. "We get down the line well. There were a couple of things as far as him sliding into second. We just play aggressive and I'm proud of the way we win."

Naturals starter Emilio Ogando (3-2) made the lead stand as the left-hander enjoyed his longest outing of the season. He gave up just a sacrifice fly to B.J. Boyd in the fourth and allowed just four hits over seven innings.

Reid Redman allowed the RockHounds' other run in the eighth but got out of the inning when he threw out Body on a check-swing dribbler toward third, and Sam Selman struck out the side in the ninth to notch his third save just before the storms reached the area.

"It always runs through your starting pitching," Wilson said. "If we can start getting some six- and seven-inning outings, that way we can shorten the bullpen a little bit, which we were able to do. Ogando was the player of the game."

Short Hops:

• Ogando threw 84 pitches during his seven-inning performance, besting the six-inning outing he's had twice with the Naturals. He also picked off J.P. Sportman, who tried to steal in the fifth.

• With his three hits Saturday, Arteaga is now hitting .366 (30-of-82) in 23 home games this season and has hit safely in 15 of his last 17 at Arvest Ballpark.

• Midland reliever Ryan Finnegan hit 100 and 101 mph on the scoreboard radar gun during his performance. The right-hander threw 2.1 innings and allowed two hits, but one of them was Rosa's RBI single in the fifth.

On Deck: Northwest Arkansas and Midland conclude their three-game series with a 6:35 p.m. contest today at Arvest Ballpark. The Naturals have yet to announce a starting pitcher for the game, while the RockHounds will send right-hander Ben Bracewell (1-1, 4.88 ERA).

Today's Promotion: It's a "Kids Eat Free Family Sunday," with all children 12 and under receiving a voucher for a hot dog, soda and bag of chips at the gate, and kids can also run the bases after the game. Arvest Ballpark will also offer its third straight night of fireworks as part of Memorial Day weekend.

On The Air: KQSM-FM 92.1

On The Web: www.nwanaturals.com


Package w/Texas League standings from AP; and box score. Attach box score in elements

Sports on 05/28/2017

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