TEXAS LEAGUE
TULSA 12, ARKANSAS 2
The Arkansas Travelers scored their only two runs in the second inning Thursday to take a 2-1 lead at ONEOK Field in Tulsa, but the Tulsa Drillers used a four-run third inning and 17 total hits to pound out a 12-2 victory.
The Drillers took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Errol Robinson hit a one-out double and scored on Peter O'Brien's RBI single.
Seth Mejias-Brown was hit by a pitch from Tulsa starter Mitchell White to start the second inning. He moved to second base on a wild pitch and scored on Kyle Waldrop's RBI double down the right-field line to tie the game at 1-1. Waldrop scored on Ryan Casteel's RBI single to give the Travs their lone lead at 2-1.
Tulsa tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the second on Tim Locastro's RBI single to left-center field. The Drillers took the lead for good in the third when Jose Miguel Fernandez hit a home run to right field on a 3-0 pitch to start the inning before O'Brien doubled and Matt Beaty walked. After Blake Gailen popped out, Erick Mejia hit a three-run home run to right field on a 3-2 pitch that gave the Drillers a 6-2 lead.
Locastro, who finished 4 for 5 with 2 runs scored and 2 RBI, hit a solo home run to lead off the fourth inning to increase the Tulsa lead to 7-2. He then hit a one-out single in the sixth inning and scored on Fernandez's two-run double that took the lead to 9-2.
Mejia hit a home run on the first pitch in the bottom of the seventh to give Tulsa a 10-2 lead. Gailen added a two-run double in the bottom of the eighth to provide the 12-2 final.
O'Brien was 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored and 1 RBI for the Drillers, while Beaty went 2 for 3 with 2 runs scored and Fernandez, Gailen and Mejia were all 2 for 5.
Ryan Casteel finished 2 for 4 for the Travelers and was the only Arkansas player with multiple hits. The Travelers had six hits for the game.
Travs starter Nick Neidert took his second consecutive Class AA loss after going 10-3 with a 2.76 ERA for the High-A Modesto Nuts. Neidert (0-2, 8.68 ERA) allowed 7 earned runs on 10 hits, including 3 home runs, with a walk and a strikeout over 4 innings.
Sports on 07/28/2017