Travelers put a hurting on Naturals

TEXAS LEAGUE TRAVELERS 18, NATURALS 3

SPRINGDALE — Jake Scheiner went 3-for-4 and drove in six runs as Arkansas thrashed Northwest Arkansas 18-3 on Thursday at Arvest Ballpark.

It was a night to forget for the Naturals, who issued 11 walks, committed 5 errors, used 5 pitchers and dropped to 29-30.

The announced crowd of 3,249 saw the Travelers (33-27) end the suspense early, scoring two in the first inning, four in the second and seven in the third. It was 13-1 after three innings. Jack Larsen (3-for-5) added five RBI, and Zach DeLoach belted a two-run homer for Arkansas, which finished with 13 hits.

After a scoreless fourth, the Travelers tacked on three more in the fifth for a 16-1 advantage and posted two runs in the seventh.

The Naturals, held to seven hits, got a solo homer from Tyler Gentry in the second and scored twice in the seventh.

Arkansas has taken two of the first three in the six-game series.

Aside from a couple of nice catches by fans, there was little for the home folks to cheer about. Scheiner’s three-RBI double highlighted the seven-run third as the Travelers batted around and breezed to their 13-1 cushion.

Larsen’s bases-clearing triple made it 5-0 in the second and chased Naturals starter and loser Zack Phillips (1-2). Reliever Christian Cosby entered and allowed a sacrifice fly that scored Larsen and padded the lead to 6-0.

Gentry’s shot to center pulled the Naturals within 6-1.

Phillips threw 59 pitches and yielded 6 runs and 5 hits in one inning as his ERA rose to 7.68.

The Travelers went up 2-0 in the first on Scheiner’s tworun double and had the bases loaded with two outs. Gentry’s running catch in right ended the threat and kept it close for the moment.

Emerson Hancock (1-2) got the win, allowing 1 run and 3 hits in 5 innings.