Naturals get consecutive wins for first time since May 18-19

SPRINGDALE — It had been nearly a month since the Northwest Arkansas Naturals notched back-to-back wins, but catcher Tyler Cropley made sure that string was broken Saturday night at Arvest Ballpark.

Cropley slapped an RBI single into center field to score Jorge Bonifacio to give the Naturals a 5-4 win over Frisco Rough-Riders.

Cropley finished 2 for 3, walked twice, scored a run and drove in one. But he was looking for something good to hit especially in that final at-bat.

“I was looking for something I could elevate to the outfield early and then when I got to two strikes, I was just trying to get something I could put through the middle of the field and that’s what I was able to do,” Cropley said.

He hit a curveball that was in the middle of the plate back into center field for the game-winner against Frisco reliever Michael Brewer (1-2). Brewer got only one out in the bottom of the ninth.

Northwest Arkansas last won two in a row on May 1819 at Springfield.

Cropley said the back-t0-back wins are definitely big for the team.

“It’s big, especially for the locker room,” Cropley said. “You can hear it in there. We’re having a good time. Celebrate every win. I think it should [give the team confidence] especially going into Tulsa next week where we owe them six. We’re going to put our best effort in there, that’s for sure.”

TRAVELERS 4, HOOKS 3

Emerson Hancock struck out eight over seven innings as the Arkansas Travelers defeated the Corpus Christi Hooks on Saturday night before an announced crowd of 6,566 at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock.

Hancock (8-2) gave up three runs on five hits and did not walk a batter. Prelander Berroa worked the final two innings and earned his first save.

The Travs took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on Spencer Packard’s RBI single. The Hooks pushed ahead in the third on an RBI triple by Kenedy Corona, who later scored on a single by Joey Loperfido.

In the bottom of the third, the Travs took the lead for good. Arkansas tied the game at 2-2 when Riley Unroe came home after Packard grounded into a double play. Later in the inning, Leo Rivas scored on a wild pitch by Corpus Christi starter Adrian Chaidez (1-3) to make it 3-2 Travs.

The Travelers tacked on a run in the sixth as Logan Warmoth scored when Jake Anchia grounded into a fielder’s choice. Warmoth led off the inning with a single, stole second base and advanced to third on a throwing error by Hooks catcher Garrett Wolforth.