Naturals’ Rivero sparks win

TEXAS LEAGUE NATURALS 12, SOD POODLES 6

SPRINGDALE — Sebastian Rivero ripped his first two homers of the season as Northwest Arkansas finished with 15 hits and routed Amarillo 12-6 on Wednesday night at Arvest Ballpark.

Rivero’s solo blast ignited a seven- run fourth inning, and the catcher added a tworun shot off the left-field foul pole in the sixth to put the Naturals ahead 12-5.

The announced crowd of 3,073 watched Rivero go 3-for5 with three RBI and two runs scored.

“He works his butt off,” Northwest Arkansas Manager Chris Widger said of Rivero. “He’s one of the hardest workers you’ll ever find out there. It’s nice to see. He’d been struggling a little bit. Just to see him get it going and have two of them in one night, it’s a special night for him.”

Rivero’s first round-tripper tied the score at 3-all and started the slugging spree in the fourth. The Naturals (8-9) batted around and pounded out eight hits as they seized a 9-3 advantage. Nick Loftin’s two-run single and Nate Eaton’s two-RBI double highlighted the uprising. A single gave Rivero two hits in the inning.

“It is contagious,” Widger said about the Naturals’ prowess at the plate. “When you see guys have good at-bats, the next guy wants to have a good at-bat. It steamrolls from there.”

Seuly Matias ( 3- for- 4, three runs scored), Eaton (3for-4), Loftin (2-for-3) and Maikel Garcia (2-for-4) joined the hit parade.

Starter Anthony Veneziano (1-3) got the win, allowing six hits and three runs (all earned) in five innings. He struck out two and walked one.

Matias clubbed his third homer of the season in the second, tying it at 1-all.

Corbin Carroll opened the Amarillo third with a homer, putting the Sod Poodles up 2-1.

Northwest Arkansas pulled even in the bottom of the inning when Tucker Bradley scored from third on an errant pickoff toss to first by Amarillo starter and eventual loser Slade Cecconi (0-1).

Nick Dalesandro and Jancarlos Cintron each had two hits and two RBI for the Sod Poodles (9-8).

After Amarillo took a 3-2 edge in top of the fourth, Rivero went deep for the first time and turned the tide.