Naturals turn to old hand to stop Travs

SPRINGDALE — The Northwest Arkansas Naturals got a boost from an old friend to hold on for a 9- 8 victory over the Arkansas Travelers on Tuesday night.

Reliever Mark Peterson, who was re- signed and activated before the game, got the last three outs in the top of the ninth at Arvest Ballpark.

The right- hander saved 16 games combined in each of the past three seasons for Northwest Arkansas but was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in late June. He pitched in eight games for Class AAA Lehigh Valley but was released a couple of weeks ago.

Naturals Manager Vance Wilson said Peterson was big for the Naturals, who have played for the past week with only 22 or 23 players. The roster maximum is 25.

“He kinda saved us,” Wilson said. “He’s been throwing and gave us a call and still wanted to pitch. Obviously we know him and have a history with him. As down as we are in arms, it’s nice to have him back.”

The Naturals also enjoyed an eight- run sixth inning to turn a 4- 1 deficit into a 9- 4 advantage. Northwest Arkansas sent 11 batters to the plate and combined 8 hits ( 7 singles) with a pair of errors.

That was also a welcome sight for Wilson, whose team had lost 14 of 17 and averaged less than three runs a game during that period.

“They made a couple mistakes, but you’ve got to give credit to the guys after that,” Wilson said. “They had a great approach, stayed on the ball. The best thing, I thought, was the two- strike approach that inning. We got down in some counts.”

Naturals catcher Nick Dini went 3 for 4 with 2 RBI. Three other Naturals added two hits apiece.

The Travs fought back to get within 9- 8 thanks to a four- run top of the eighth. That rally also was aided by a two- out error by Northwest Arkansas.

Shawn O’Malley, Braden Bishop, Seth Mejias- Brean and Tyler Marlette each had

two hits for the Travs. MejiasBrean and Kyle Waldrop drove in two runs apiece.