STAFF REPORT
Frank Schwindel hit his 12th home run of the season, and Ryan O'Hearn hit a trio of doubles to pace Northwest Arkansas' 17-hit attack Sunday as the Naturals concluded a four-game series against Tulsa with an 8-3 victory over the Drillers at ONEOK Park in Tulsa.
All nine batters in Northwest Arkansas' lineup had at least one hit against four Tulsa pitchers. O'Hearn and Jack Lopez led with three hits apiece while Schwindel, Logan Moon and Carlos Garcia each had two hits.
The Naturals (33-43 overall, 4-2 second half) snapped a 1-1 tie and took the lead for good with a three-run fourth. Lopez and Carlos Diaz had back-to-back RBI singles, and Bubba Starling added a sacrifice fly.
Northwest Arkansas then scored solo runs in the last four innings to complete the scoring. That included Schwindel's home run over the left-center field fence in the seventh.
Naturals starter Pedro Fernandez failed to get past the fourth, but four relievers held the Drillers (41-34, 4-2) scoreless for 5.1 innings. Tim Hill (1-1) pitched two innings and picked up the win as he allowed just one hit and struck out two.
The two teams split their four-game series and are tied for first place in the North Division second-half standings heading into the Texas League All-Star break. That game will be played Tuesday in Springfield, then Northwest Arkansas returns to action Thursday with a six-game homestand against South Division teams Midland and Frisco.
Sports on 06/27/2016