SPRINGDALE — The Northwest Arkansas Naturals walked all over Frisco on Sunday.
The Naturals took advantage of seven walks and two more hit batsmen to batter the RoughRiders 13-2 to complete their second series sweep of the month at Arvest Ballpark in front of 3,972 fans.
Northwest Arkansas (23-26 second half, 58-61 overall) also won its fourth straight series and improved to 11-2 over the last two weeks.
Three of the seven walks issued by Frisco, five by starter Pedro Payano, scored for the Naturals and both of the hit batsmen. The Naturals also pounded the ball, rapping out 14 hits with eight of the nine hitters in the order earning hits and eight of the nine scoring runs.
It made for a fun day in the dugout.
“Every time we can come out and win a ballgame is fun, especially the way we swung the bats,” Alex Liddi said. “We’ve been playing good baseball lately. Hitting is contagious. When somebody starts hitting, it puts more pressure on the defense and the pitcher. It’s easier for all the guys.”
Erick Mejia started Sunday’s onslaught with a single, stole second, took third on a throwing error on a pickoff attempt, and scored on a wild pitch for a rather quick 1-0 lead.
After Frisco (28-22, 52-68) tied the game with a run in the second on a run-scoring single by Luis Mendez, the Naturals scored three runs in the bottom half of the inning.
Anderson Miller walked, Alfredo Escalara was plunked, and Nick Heath walked to load the bases. Xavier Fernandez doubled home Miller and Escalara, and Erick Mejia hit a deep fly to center to score Heath for a 4-1 lead.
With an out in the fourth, Mejia was hit by a pitch, and an out later, Samir Duenez and Kelvin Gutierrez walked. Liddi drove home Mejia and Duenez with a single for a 6-1 lead.
Jecksson Flores doubled with two outs in the fifth inning to score Escalara and Fernandez, both of whom had singled, to pad the lead to 8-1.
The Naturals batted around the order in the sixth inning for five more runs on two-run doubles by Liddi and Mejia along with a fielder’s choice ground ball by Heath.
Liddi drove in four runs on Sunday and ended the three-game series against Midland with six hits in 14 at-bats and 11 runs batted in. He credited hitting coach Leon Roberts for his recent success.
“I’ve been working with our hitting coach, Leon, a lot,” Liddi said. “He’s helped me a lot, getting my confidence back and working on several things. I’m glad he’s one of our coaches, and he’s helped everybody.”
Liddi was the team’s designated hitter but stayed active in the game in a couple of different ways, even warming up the pitcher a couple of times while Fernandez, the catcher, was getting his gear on.
“I tried to pay as much attention to the game like I’m on the field,” Liddi said. “I try to stay loose and try to go to the cage and hit a little bit.”
Gutierrez and Fernandez each had three hits with Gutierrez also walking twice in his five trips to the plate. Mejia drove in three runs.
Luis Lugo earned the win for the Naturals, going five innings and giving up a lone earned run while fanning five.
He pitched out of trouble in the second inning when the first four batters of the inning reached base. After a strikeout with the bases loaded and one run across, Gutierrez snagged a hard grounder at third and started an inning-ending double play.
Lugo cruised through his final three innings.
SHORT HOPS
The Naturals ended the three-game sweep with 40 hits, 67 total bases, a .360 batting average and a .604 slugging percentage.
Northwest Arkansas has won four straight series against Arkansas, Springfield, Midland and Frisco.
Sunday, the Naturals had 24 base runners on 14 hits, seven walks, two hit batsmen and an error.
On Deck: Today is a league-wide travel day with the Naturals heading to the Lone Star state for six games, first at Midland for three games. Northwest Arkansas will start 2016 fourth-round draft pick Jace Vines (2-2, 5.76) on Tuesday. The start will be the 55th in his minor league career but first for Vines, who was born in Dallas and pitched collegiately for Texas A&M, in his native state on the professional level. Midland has not announced a Tuesday starter.
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