Tulsa center fielder Delta Cleary didn’t leave Arkansas empty-handed.
Cleary, a former three-sport standout at Jonesboro, went 2 for 4 and scored two runs in Tulsa’s 8-3 victory over Arkansas before an announced crowd of 2,224 on a chilly Thursday night at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock.
The start of the game was delayed 46 minutes because of rain.
Tulsa (10-10), which clinched the Texas League North series 3-1 with the victory, returns home to face Northwest Arkansas today.
Cleary, a 2007 Jonesboro High School graduate, was hitless in the first two games of the series and didn’t play in Wednesday’s 1-0 loss to Arkansas (8-12).
“I don’t put that much pressure on myself coming here, home,” said Cleary, 24, who starred in football, basketball and baseball at Jonesboro. “It’s about coming out here and continuing to have fun. Once I’m on this field between the lines, hey, it’s between me and the lines. I’m not thinking about my family up in the stands.”
Cleary’s two hits raised his season average to .347. The Drillers finished with 12 hits.
Three Drillers pitchers combined to limit the Travelers to four hits. Starter Tyler Anderson (2-1) pitched five strong innings to earn the victory.
Arkansas starter Yeiper Castillo (1-2) lost after allowing five hits and three runs - all earned - in six innings.
Cleary struck out in his first at-bat Thursday, but his single to center in the fifth inning helped spark a two-run rally and break a 1-1 tie.
Cleary scored on a wild pitch later in the fifth inning to give Tulsa a 3-1 lead.
Another Cleary single to center, this one in the seventh, helped extend Tulsa’s lead to 5-1. Cleary scored his second run of the game on a bases-loaded walk.
Tulsa led 6-1 in the eighth inning before Arkansas got back in the game on Alex Yarbrough’s two-out, two-run single to right.
But Tulsa touched hard-throwing right-hander Cam Bedrosian, Arkansas’ third pitcher, for two runs in the ninth inning. Both runs scored on a two-out single to right-center by designated hitter Tim Smalling.
Bedrosian, the son of 1987 Cy Young Award winner Steve Bedrosian, hadn’t allowed a run this season.
Anderson opened the game with two walks, but recorded perfect innings in the second and fifth. Anderson threw 67 pitches in five innings, including 44 strikes. He allowed three hits.
CARDINALS 6, NATURALS 2
SPRING DALE - Northwest Arkansas wasted its early chances Thursday night and paid for it.
The Naturals left four runners in scoring position over the first three innings as Springfield ended Northwest Arkansas’ two-game winning streak with an 8-2 victory in front of an announced crowd of 3,377 at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale.
Springfield took command early, scoring three runs in the second inning on a two-run double by Travis Tartamella and a sacrifice fly by Mike O’Neill. Then Springfield (10-10) turned it over to starter Jonathan Cornelius (2-2), who managed to come up with big pitches when the Cardinals needed them the most.
Springfield sealed its victory with five runs in the eighth inning. The Cardinals used five singles, a hit batter, a walk, a wild pitch and a forceout to build an 8-2 lead. Patrick Wisdom and O’Neill provided RBI singles.
TODAY’S GAME Arkansas vs. Springfield
WHEN 7:10 p.m.
WHERE Dickey-Stephens Park, North Little Rock
RADIO KARN-AM, 920, in central Arkansas
WEBSITE travs.com PITCHERS Travelers: Mark Sappington (RHP, 0-2, 6.75 ERA); Cardinals: Kurt Heyer (RHP, 1-1, 3.28)
TICKETS Gates open 1 hour before the game. $12 box seats, $8 reserved ($5 children), $6 general admission ($4 children).
SHORT HOPS Infielder Brian Hernandez was transferred to the Travelers on Thursday from Inland Empire, the Angels’ advanced Class A affiliate in San Bernardino, Calif., to fill out the 25-man active roster. Hernandez was hitting .190 with two home runs at the time of his promotion. He was a third baseman for the Travelers during the second half of the 2012 season.
THE WEEK AHEAD TODAY
Springfield, 7:10 p.m.
SATURDAY Springfield, 6:10 p.m.
SUNDAY Springfield, 2:10 p.m.
MONDAY Springfield, 7:10 p.m.
TUESDAY at Tulsa, 7:05 p.m.
WEDNESDAY at Tulsa, 11:05 a.m.
THURSDAY at Tulsa, 7:05 p.m.
THURSDAY’S GAMES
Springfield 8, Northwest Arkansas 2 Tulsa 8, Arkansas 3 Frisco 2, San Antonio 0 Corpus Christi 9, Midland 3
TODAY’S GAMES - All times Central
Midland at San Antonio, 7:05 p.m.
Northwest Arkansas at Tulsa, 7:05 p.m.
Springfield at Arkansas, 7:10 p.m.
Frisco at Corpus Christi, 7:10 p.m.
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Frisco at Corpus Christi, 1:10 p.m.
Springfield at Arkansas, 6:10 p.m.
Northwest Arkansas at Tulsa, 7:05 p.m.
Midland at San Antonio, 7:05 p.m.
SUNDAY’S GAMES
Tulsa at Northwest Arkansas, 2:05 p.m.
Midland at San Antonio, 2:05 p.m.
Springfield at Arkansas, 2:10 p.m.
Frisco at Corpus Christi, 7:10 p.m.
Sports, Pages 25 on 04/25/2014