TRAVELERS 9, MISSIONS 8 (10)

The Arkansas Travelers let a 5-1 lead slip away in the eighth inning Wednesday to force extra innings, then took a 9-5 lead in the 10th before holding on for a victory over the San Antonio Missions in front of an announced crowd of 3,621 at Nelson Wolff Stadium in San Antonio.

After taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning on Jack Larson’s RBI single, the Travelers padded their lead with a two-run home run By Jake Scheiner in the third. An RBI single from Cade Marlowe and a groundout from Matt Scheffler that allowed Jack Larsen to score in the fifth made it a 5-1 lead.

The Cardinals tied the game with four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, thanks largely to two of Arkansas’ three errors in the game. The first of the inning was a fielding error by shortstop Patrick Frick that allowed Korry Howell to score and cut the lead to 5-2. After Connor Hollis’ sacrifice fly scored Juan Fernandez, a fielding error by right fielder Zach DeLoach on Domingo Leyba’s single allowed Connor Kaiser and Esteury Ruiz to score and tied the game at 5-5.

The Travs wasted little time in the 10th inning, retaking the lead on Scheffler’s single to score Frick. Scheffler would later score on a double from Joe Rizzo. Rizzo and Tanner Kirwer both scored on wild pitches by San Antonio reliever Carlos Belen to push the lead to 9-5.

The Cardinals then made things interesting in the bottom of the inning. Tirso Ornelas scored on Kaiser’s sacrifice fly, then Yorman Rodriguez hit a two-run single to left field to make it 9-8.

Scheffler finished 3 for 5 with 2 RBI, while Rizzo, DeLoach and Scheiner all had two hits for Arkansas. Reliever Michael Stryffeler (1-0) earned his first victory of the season after allowing 1 hit with 2 strikeouts in 2 innings of work.