The Northwest Arkansas Naturals decided to show off some of their own shutdown pitching Wednesday night at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock.
After the Arkansas Travelers dished out back-to-back shutout wins over their in-state counterparts Monday and Tuesday in the first two games of a four-game tilt, the Naturals silenced the Travs' bats Wednesday en route to a 3-0 victory.
Today’s game
ARKANSAS TRAVELERS VS. NW ARKANSAS NATURALS
WHEN 7:10 p.m.
WHERE Dickey-Stephens Park, North Little Rock
RADIO KARN-AM, 920, in central Arkansas
WEBSITE travs.com
PITCHERS Travelers: RH Justin Dunn (7-4, 3.66 ERA); Naturals: RH Gerson Garabito (5-9, 4.11 ERA)
TICKETS $12 box seats, $8 reserved, $6 general admission ($1 higher on game day). Gates open one hour before first pitch.
PROMOTIONS Clunker Car Night
THE WEEK AHEAD
TODAY vs. NW Arkansas, 7:10 p.m.
FRIDAY at Springfield, 7:10 p.m.
SATURDAY at Springfield, 6:10 p.m.
SUNDAY at Springfield, 4:10 p.m.
MONDAY Off
TUESDAY vs. Corpus Christi, 7:10 p.m.
WEDNESDAY vs. Corpus Christi, 7:10 p.m.
Naturals right-hander Brady Singer claimed the win after giving up 4 hits, 1 walk and striking out 9 over 7 innings.
"He threw the ball really well," Travelers Manager Cesar Nicolas said. "[He was] locating all of his pitches, kept the ball down in the zone. It just kind of happens sometimes -- you run into one of those guys who's throwing the ball really well. You just tip your cap."
Naturals second baseman Taylor Featherston drove in center fielder Dairon Blanco with an RBI single in the top of the first to give Northwest Arkansas a 1-0 lead.
Travs catcher Cal Raleigh nearly tied the game in the bottom of the sixth when he smacked the first pitch he saw to deep right field, but the ball was caught at the warning track by Naturals right fielder Blake Perkins.
"It looked like it was gonna get out of here," Nicolas said. "Just a little short, but a really good swing."
In the top of the eighth, Naturals left fielder D.J. Burt produced a bases-loaded walk with one out. After a pitching change, Naturals catcher Nate Esposito registered an RBI sacrifice fly to right field to score first baseman Jordan George (Arkansas State/Paragould) to put Northwest Arkansas up 3-0.
Naturals closer Tyler Zuber, a White Hall High School product and ex-Arkansas State University pitcher, came on in the bottom of the ninth inning and recorded his seventh save of the season.
The final game of the series is today at 7:10 p.m. in North Little Rock.
NW ARKANSAS AB R H BI ARKANSAS AB R H BI
Blanco, cf 4 1 0 0 Walton, ss 3 0 1 0
Merrell, ss 5 0 1 0 Kelenic, cf 4 0 0 0
Rivera, 3b 4 1 0 0 White, 1b 3 0 0 0
Featherston, 2b 4 0 1 1 Raleigh, dh 4 0 0 0
George, 1b 3 1 2 0 Liberato, lf 4 0 0 0
Castellano, dh 2 0 0 0 T-Williams, rf 4 0 1 0
Burt, lf 3 0 1 1 Ahmed, 2b 3 0 0 0
Esposito, c 3 0 0 1 Taylor, 3b 3 0 2 0
Perkins, rf 4 0 1 0 Thurman, c 2 0 0 0
TOTALS 32 3 6 3 TOTALS 30 0 4 0
NW Arkansas 100 000 020 -- 3 6 0
Arkansas 000 000 000 -- 0 4 1
E -- Sanchez. DP -- Arkansas 1. LOB -- NW Arkansas 9, Arkansas 6. SAC -- Thurman. SF -- Esposito. SB -- Burt.
NW ARKANSAS IP H R ER BB SO
Singer W, 4-3 7 4 0 0 1 9
Gavin 1 0 0 0 0 2
Zuber S, 7 1 0 0 0 1 1
ARKANSAS IP H R ER BB SO
Sanchez L, 8-9 51/3 6 1 1 2 8
Delaplane 12/3 0 0 0 0 3
Haberer 1/3 0 2 2 4 1
Gerber 12/3 0 0 0 0 3
PB -- Esposito, Thurman. Umpires -- Home: Poncsak; First: Walsh; Third: Barrett. Time -- 2:43. Attendance -- 2,621.
Sports on 08/15/2019