The Arkansas Travelers could feel the frustration begin to burrow into their offensive approach Wednesday morning, so hitting coach Tom Tornincasa gathered a few of his players in the batting cage at Dickey-Stephens Park before the 11 a.m. first pitch.
The message was simple: Taking an approach that leads to ground balls and line drives is preferable when playing in a home park in which balls rarely carry in the air.
Today’s game
ARKANSAS VS. TULSA
WHEN 7:10 p.m.
WHERE Dickey-Stephens Park, North Little Rock
RADIO KARN-AM, 920, in central Arkansas
WEBSITE travs.com
PITCHERS Travs: Nate Smith (LHP, 3-0, 1.54 ERA); Drillers: Dustin Richardson (LHP, 0-0, 6.00)
TICKETS Gates open 1 hour before first pitch. $12 box, $8 reserved ($5 children), $6 general admission ($4 children)
PROMOTIONS Bark in the ballpark, where dogs are allowed in the stadium with a ticket-holding owner.
THE WEEK AHEAD
TODAY Tulsa, 7:10 p.m.
FRIDAY Springfield, 7:10 p.m.
SATURDAY Springfield, 7:10 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.
The Travs didn't follow the lesson plan all the time Wednesday, but they followed it close enough to come back twice as Wade Hinkle's single scored Chad Hinshaw in the bottom of the ninth inning to cap a 10-9 victory over the Tulsa Drillers.
The Travs scored seven runs in the sixth inning to take a 7-5 lead, then came back to score three runs in the ninth to earn their fourth victory in their past five games.
"It's great to sit in that seat and know that these guys will do everything they can to win," Arkansas Manager Bill Richardson said. "They executed the plan."
After accumulating seven hits in 21 innings in the first two games of the series -- they won 1-0 in 12 innings Monday and lost 5-0 on Tuesday -- the Travs were held to two hits and trailed 5-0 through five innings Wednesday in front of 6,301 fans on elementary school day at the ballpark.
"You're never happy about scoring one run and being held to that many hits," shortstop Sherman Johnson said.
Things began to change in the sixth inning with Johnson's single. Hinshaw drove him in with a double to left-center field, and the momentum started rolling in the Travs' way. Brian Hernandez added an RBI single, Wade Hinkle walked and scored, Michael Snyder drew a bases-loaded walk and Anthony Bemboom hit a two-run triple to right-field before scoring later on a groundout to give the Travs a 7-5 lead.
The Drillers answered with two runs in the seventh off Alan Busenitz and two more in the ninth off closer Trevor Gott to take a 9-7 lead, but the Travs weren't through.
Drew Maggi walked, Johnson was hit by a pitch and Hinshaw reached when Daniel Mayora couldn't field his bunt properly to load the bases. Brian Hernandez laced a two-run single to tie the game at 9-9, and Hinkle followed with a single on a 2-2 slider to right field that scored Hinshaw and give the Travs a victory.
"They always say hitting is contagious," Johnson said. "It seems like when one of us hits, we all hit."
Seven of the Travs' 10 hits came in the two innings they scored, and they've won two of the first three games of the eight-game home stand despite scoring in only three of 30 innings. Of the Travs 34 runs scored in nine home games this season, 28 have come in only seven innings.
Hinkle, who is batting a team-high .296 at Dickey-Stephens, said the inconsistencies are frustrating but pointed to a tight-knight clubhouse as the reason they have scored runs in bunches at times.
"We have great chemistry on this team," Hinkle said. "Everybody gets along, and we have a brotherhood going on. It feels pretty good to be on the field with them. We just need to find that more often and we'll be pretty good."
The Travs' comebacks were necessary Wednesday after starter Austin Wood had his worst outing of the season. Wood gave up two runs in the second and allowed four consecutive hits in a three-run fourth as the Travs fell behind 5-0.
Luckily for Richardson and Wood, whose ERA rose to 5.40, the Travs' offense picked up as Arkansas remained in first place in the Texas League North Division.
"I won't speak ill of them, because if they are frustrated it's because they are winners," Richardson said. "They almost try too hard. I know it sounds cliche, but it's true."
NATURALS 5, CARDINALS 0
Andy Ferguson and two Naturals relievers combined for a four-hitter as Northwest Arkansas handed Springfield its sixth consecutive loss Wednesday at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale.
Ferguson (2-0) struck out 6 and walked 2 in 6 innings and lowered his earned run average to 0.45. Balbino Fuenmayor led the Naturals’ offense, capping a four-run fifth inning with a two-run double.
Northwest Arkansas won its fourth consecutive game, banging out nine hits against losing pitcher Jonathan Cornelius (0-2).
Alex Liddi, one of three Naturals with two hits, gave Northwest Arkansas a 1-0 in the third when he doubled to right to score Mike Bianucci.
Northwest Arkansas used five hits and a sacrifice fly to score four runs in the fifth inning. Bianucci started the inning with a double and moved to third on a line-drive single by Anderson Del La Rosa. Dusty Coleman’s bunt single off Cornelius drove in Bianucci for a 2-0 lead.
After a single by Liddi that loaded the bases, Jorge Bonifacio followed with a sacrifice fly that scored De La Rosa and Fuenmayor put the finishing touches on the inning with a double to center that brought home Coleman and Liddi.
Ali Williams and Daniel Stumpf each gave up a hit during the final three innings to complete the shutout.
Sports on 04/30/2015