Weaver silences Northwest Arkansas bats

SPRINGDALE -- Northwest Arkansas bats were mostly silent one game after collecting a season-high for hits.

Luke Weaver pitched eight strong inning as Springfield defeated the Naturals 2-1 Thursday before a crowd of 5,331 at Arvest Ballpark. It was another impressive start for Weaver (3-0), a first-round draft pick by St. Louis in 2014. The former Florida State standout allowed one run on seven hits with six strikeouts and no walks.

"(Weaver) threw great," Springfield manager Dann Bilardello said. "He probably made one mistake but, man, what an effort. He kept the ball down and made clutch pitches when he had to."

Northwest Arkansas put the tying run at second base in the ninth inning after a one-out single by Ryan O'Hearn. With two outs, Frank Schwindel fouled off five consecutive pitches before reliever Kevin Herget struck him out on a pitch in the dirt.

"It's all about good pitching," Northwest Arkansas manager Vance Wilson said. "We ran into a buzzsaw tonight. (Weaver) had a good fastball with movement on both sides of the plate."

Cameron Gallagher had a run-scoring double for the Naturals, who collected a season-high 18 hits in a 12-6 victory over the Cardinals on Wednesday.

Springfield led 2-0 before Northwest Arkansas scored its first run in the sixth inning. Logan Moon reached on a one-out single and scored on a double by Gallagher down the line in left field.

A walk to Jonathan Rodriguez led to two runs in the third inning for the Cardinals. Bruce Caldwell followed with a double and both runners scored on sacrifice flies by Harrison Bader and Luke Voit.

Springfield loaded the bases in the first inning, but third baseman Jack Lopez started a double play on a fine stop to end the threat.

SHORT HOPS

• Northwest Arkansas reliever Yender Caramo made an impressive recovery in the sixth inning after getting hit with a throw while backing up third base.

Caramo appeared in pain when he returned to the mound, but stayed in the game. With runners at first and third, he then retired the sides on two strikeouts and a fly out to short left field.

• Northwest Arkansas starter Pedro Fernandez (0-2) allowed four hits and two runs in 32/3 innings. He walked three and struck out three.

On Deck: The series will continue at 7:05 p.m. today with Naturals' left-hander Matt Strahm (2-5, 3.05 ERA) going against right-hander Daniel Poncedeleon (3-4, 3.03) for the Cardinals.

Today's Promotions: Star Wars Night with postgame fireworks. Prizes for the first 15 children in Star Wars costumes.

On The Air: KQSM-FM 92-1

On The Web: www.nwanaturals.com

Sports on 06/17/2016

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