Nats grab lead early, hold off Surge

SPRINGDALE — Northwest Arkansas got off to a strong start and added more offense later to claim an 8-4 win over Wichita in Texas League baseball action Tuesday night at Arvest Ballpark.

Northwest Arkansas grabbed a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Dillan Shrum continued his hot hitting with an RBI double into the left-field corner. Following a Gavin Cross strikeout, Cayden Wallace lined an 0-2 pitch for a two-out, two-run double and a 3-0 Naturals’ lead. But Northwest Arkansas added another two-out run thanks to Josh Lester’s RBI double into the right- field corner against Wichita starter Travis Adams (1-2).

Wichita, the Class AA affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, pulled within 4-3 on a three-run home run by first baseman Andrew Cossetti in the fifth.

The Naturals then added a run in the sixth and three more in the seventh. Shrum tied for the league lead with his seventh home run of the season, a solo shot in the sixth. Javier Vaz then hit an RBI single in the seventh and catcher Rodolpho Duran followed with a two-run home run.

The Wind Surge picked up a run in the top of the eighth aided by a Naturals error to get within 8-4 as Jorel Ortega drove in Jake Rucker with a two-out single, but nothing else. Rucker had reached on Wallace’s error.

Vaz, Shrum, Wallace, Lester and Duran had two hits apiece to lead Northwest Arkansas’ 11-hit attack. Duran and Shrum drove in two runs and scored two apiece. Leadoff man Tanner Schobel led the Wind Surge with two hits and a run scored. Cossetti had just one hit, but drove in three.

Naturals starter Noah Cameron (1-1) picked up his first win of the season. He allowed three runs on five hits over five innings, walked three and struck out three. Four Northwest Arkansas relievers combined to allow one unearned run on one hit over four innings. The quartet of Jacob Wallace, Noah Murdock, Anthony Simonelli and Anderson Paulino combined to strike out five and walk two.

The series continues tonight at 7:05 with Mason Barnett (1-0, 3.38 ERA) taking the mound for Northwest Arkansas, while Pierson Ohl (1-2 5.40) starts for the Wind Surge.

TRAVELERS 5, MISSIONS 3

The Arkansas Travelers extended their winning streak to five games as they scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to break a 3-3 tie on the way to a victory over San Antonio in the opening game of the six-game series Tuesday afternoon at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock.

“It’s all about preparation. Preparation is key to give those guys the best chance to find success within the game,” Jose

Umbria, the Travs’ bench coach, said following the game. “The offense has been doing a great job, especially with runners in scoring position.”

Arkansas scored a run in the bottom of the second inning as Jared Olivia grounded into a double play with no outs and the bases loaded that allowed Hogan Windish to score from third base.

The Travelers extended the lead to 3-0 in the fifth inning when Alberto Rodriguez hit a two-RBI single that scored Harry Ford and Spencer Packard. San Antonio broke through in the top of the sixth as Ripken Reyes scored on a sacrifice fly by Cole Cummings to cut the deficit to 3-1.

Reid VanScoter started for Arkansas and provided a strong pitching performance. In 6 innings, he allowed 1 earned run and struck out 4 in the no-decision.

“[VanScoter] was really nice today,” Umbria said. “He’s really dominated. He’s working ahead with the hitters and putting them away when needed. He did a tremendous job for us today. The bullpen has also handled the last couple of nights very well.”

The Missions tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the eighth when Nathan Martorella smacked a double to the right field corner that scored Reyes and Jakob Marsee. Arkansas reliever Luis Curvelo gave up the double to Martorella, but fellow reliever Peyton Alford was charged with the earned runs as he was responsible for the two runners on base.

The Travelers responded in the bottom of the eighth as they were able to manufacture two runs. Tyler Locklear was hit by a pitch to open the inning and eventually would steal second base.