Minor league baseball
TRAVELERS 7, DRILLERS 3
Arkansas right-hander Taylor Dollard (7-2) had a solid outing Wednesday, allowing 2 earned runs on 4 hits with 8 strikeouts over 7 innings as the Travelers beat the Tulsa Drillers in front of an announced crowd of 4,040 at ONEOK Field in Tulsa.
The Drillers took an early lead on Justin Yurchak’s two-run single in the bottom of the first inning. The Travelers then took the lead for good in the top of the fourth, thanks to a single from Cade Marlowe and a throwing error by Tulsa right fielder Andy Pages. Zach DeLoach added an RBI single for Arkansas in the sixth inning for a 4-2 lead. Jake Scheiner had an RBI groundout in the eighth and Marlowe added an RBI single to make it 6-2. Tulsa’s Jeren Kendall scored on a wild pitch by Arkansas reliever Devin Sweet for the Drillers’ final run, but the favor was returned in the top of the ninth when Matt Scheffler scored on Guillermo Zuniga’s wild pitch to set the final score.
Marlowe went 3 for 3 with 3 RBI and Joe Rizzo was 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored to lead the Travelers, who finished with 10 hits and left 14 runners on base. Yurchak was 2 for 4 to lead the Drillers, who finished with 7 hits and stranded 16 base runners. Tulsa starter Clayton Beeter (0-3) took the loss, allowing 3 runs (2 earned) on 1 hit with 2 walks and 5 strikeouts over 32/3 innings.
SOD POODLES 10, NATURALS 4
Northwest Arkansas took an early 2-0 lead Wednesday, but Amarillo took the lead for good with a four-run third inning to beat the Naturals in front of an announced crowd of 4,784 in Amarillo, Texas.
Nick Loftin hit his eighth home run of the season on the first pitch he saw in the first inning and Tyler Gentry hit his fifth on a 2-1 pitch to give the Naturals a 2-0 lead. Tristin English scored in the bottom of the second on Elvis Peralta’s single to cut the lead in half before an RBI double from Juan Centeno, an RBI single by Roby Enriquez and a tworun double from English gave the Sod Poodles a 5-2 lead in the third. Peralta scored in the fourth inning on an RBI triple from Jorge Barosa, who later scored on Leandro Cedeno’s single to push the lead to 7-2. Barosa added an RBi single in the sixth, as did Cedeno, and Tim Tawa was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to extend the lead to 10-2. Tyler Gentry capped the scoring with a two-run home run, his sixth of the season, for the Naturals in the top of the eighth inning.
Gentry was the only Naturals player with multiple hits, finishing 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored and 3 RBI. The Naturals finished with 7 hits as a team and left 15 runners on base. Barosa and Cedeno had three hits each to lead the Sod Poodles, who finished with 12 hits and stranded 19 base runners.
Amarillo starter Brandon Pfaadt (5-4) earned the victory on the mound after allowing the 2 runs in the first inning on 5 total hits with 2 walks and 9 strikeouts in 6 innings. Northwest Arkansas starter Alec Marsh (1-7) took the loss. He allowed 7 runs (4 earned) on 9 hits with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts in his 4 innings of work.