The Arkansas Travelers had one good offensive inning Wednesday, but that was enough to make up for starter Kyle McGowin's one bad inning at ONEOK Field in Tulsa.
Sherman Johnson and Chad Hinshaw had two-run singles in the Travs' five-run fourth and they held on to win 5-4 to stay even with the Northwest Arkansas Naturals for first place in the Texas League North Division first-half standings.
McGowin, who won for the second consecutive start, allowed 4 runs on 6 hits and struck out 4 in 5 innings, with all of the damage coming in the second inning.
McGowin pitched a perfect first inning before Lars Anderson led off Tulsa's second inning with a double. Anderson then scored on Yadir Drake's single, and Brad Dixon hit an RBI double to give the Drillers a 2-0 lead. Dixon scored on Kyle Farmer's fielder's choice, and Farmer scored on Travis Witherspoon's double to make it 4-0.
McGowin held Tulsa to two hits after that, one in the third and one in the fifth, and didn't allow any more runs. Kurt Spomer, Chris O'Grady, Danny Reynolds and Trevor Gott combined to pitch four shutout innings, and Gott recorded his Texas League-leading sixth save.
The Travs were able to play the final six innings with a lead thanks to a five-run fourth.
After being held to two hits through three innings, Kentrail Davis drew a one-out walk to get the big inning going. Then D'Arby Myers singled and Anthony Bomboom walked. Drew Maggi reached on an error that allowed Davis to score, Johnson singled to score Meyers and Bemboom, and Hinshaw's single scored Maggi and Johnson to make it 5-4.
The Travs were held to two hits the rest of the game.
NW ARKANSAS 8, SPRINGFIELD 4
Angel Franco had four hits, Bubba Starling hit a home run for the second consecutive day and Northwest Arkansas won its 11th game in a row Wednesday.
The Naturals scored a run in each of the first and second innings, then pulled away when it scored two in the sixth, three in the seventh and one in the eighth to beat the Cardinals.
Starling's home run came in the seventh and gave the Naturals a 7-0 lead. They added a run in the eighth on Jorge Bonifacio's single that scored Terrence Gore.
Micah Gibbs went 3 for 5 with 1 RBI and 1 run scored. Miguel Almonte (2-1) earned the victory after throwing five shutout innings and giving up four hits.
Sports on 05/07/2015