Luis Mateo’s single off Kevin Johnson in the bottom of the ninth inning scored Rafael Ortega with the winning run to give the Springfield Cardinals a 2-1 victory over the Arkansas Travelers on Thursday night at Hammons Field in Springfield, Mo.
The loss was the fifth consecutive for the Travelers (6-7), who started the season 6-2.
Ortega led off the ninth with an infield single against Johnson (0-1), then moved to third when Johnson threw the ball away on a force attempt. With runners on first and third and no outs, Mateo followed with the game winner on a sharp hit to left field.
Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the seventh, the Cardinals (6-7) tied the score off Travs reliever Ryan Chaffee on Travis Tartamella’s sacrifice fly that scored Ortega.
Arkansas’ Kyle Hudson led off the game with a single and moved to second on Tartamella’s passed ball. Alex Yarbrough’s single moved Hudson to third before Kaleb Cowart lined an RBI single to center to give the Travelers a 1-0 lead.
Both starting pitchers were effective but came away with no-decisions. Drew Rucinski went 5 innings, allowing 3 hits while striking out 3 for Arkansas. Tulsa starter Seth Blair went 6 innings, allowing 5 hits and 4 walks, with 3 strikeouts.
Justin Wright (1-0) earned the victory with 1 2/3 innings of hitless relief.
NATURALS 10, DRILLERS 6
Northwest Arkansas’ offense finally showed up Thursday night in Tulsa.
The Naturals broke a 10-game losing streak by pounding out 11 hits in a victory over the Tulsa Drillers in front of an announced crowd of 4,126 at ONEOK Park.
Northwest Arkansas starter Andy Ferguson (1-0) gave up 2 runs on 3 hits while striking out 5 in 5 innings, but he received more than enough run support.
The Naturals’ 11 hits were the second-most they’ve had in a game this season. They managed 13 hits April 8 in a 20-8 loss at Midland.
TODAY’S GAMES
Arkansas at Springfield WHEN 7:10 p.m. Central WHERE Hammons Field, Springfield, Mo. RADIO KARN-AM, 920, in central Arkansas WEBSITE travs.com PITCHERS Travelers: Kramer Sneed (LHP, 2-0, 2.70 ERA); Cardinals: Samuel Gaviglio (RHP, 0-2, 7.00)
TRAVELERS WEEK AHEAD
TODAY at Springfield, 7:10 p.m.
SATURDAY at Springfield, 6:10 p.m.
SUNDAY at Springfield, 4:10 p.m.
MONDAY vs. Tulsa, 7:10 p.m.
TUESDAY vs. Tulsa, 7:10 p.m.
WEDNESDAY vs. Tulsa, 11 a.m.
THURSDAY vs. Tulsa, 7:10 p.m.
NW Arkansas at Tulsa WHEN 7:05 p.m.
WHERE ONEOK Field, Tulsa RADIO KQSM-FM, 92.1, in Northwest Arkansas WEBSITE nwanaturals.com PITCHERS Naturals: J.C. Sulbaran (RHP, 0-1, 7.11). Drillers: Richard Castillo (RHP, 1-0, 2.25) NATURALS WEEK AHEAD
TODAY at Tulsa, 7:05 p.m.
SATURDAY at Tulsa, 7:05 p.m.
SUNDAY off MONDAY vs. Springfield, 7:05 p.m.
TUESDAY vs. Springfield, 7:05 p.m.
WEDNESDAY vs. Springfield, 11:05 a.m.
THURSDAY vs. Springfield, 7:05 p.m.
WEDNESDAY’S GAMES Tulsa 7, Northwest Arkansas 0
THURSDAY’S GAMES Northwest Arkansas 10, Tulsa 6 Springfield 2, Arkansas 1 San Antonio 4, Midland 1 Frisco 3, Corpus Christi 2
TODAY’S GAMES - All times Central San Antonio at Midland, 7 p.m.
Northwest Arkansas at Tulsa, 7:05 p.m. Corpus Christi at Frisco, 7:05 p.m.
Arkansas at Springfield, 7:10 p.m.
Sports, Pages 23 on 04/18/2014