SPRINGDALE — Moms dig the long ball.
The Northwest Arkansas Naturals celebrated Mother’s Day with their best offensive performance of the season, belting three home runs to highlight an 11-8 win over Tulsa before 4,141 at Arvest Ballpark on Sunday.
Northwest Arkansas (15-20) also took the series with Sunday’s win, winning three out of four against the Drillers and hitting .329 over the four-game series with a .530 slugging percentage.
Sunday was the coup de grace, though, offensively for the Naturals.
They scored in each of the first five innings and led 11-5 behind two homers by Erick Mejia and another by Anderson Miller.
The Naturals tied a season-high with 17 hits and set single-game season-highs with three homers, 32 total bases, and eight extra-base hits.
Mejia, a second baseman, sparked the outburst with homers in consecutive innings in the third and fourth frames. He hit a solo homer to lead off the third inning and then walloped a three-run shot above the bullpen in deep left to cap the fourth inning.
NW ARKANSAS 11, TULSA 8
“The first homer, I was ready for the first pitch no matter what he was going to throw, I was swinging,” Mejia said. “The second pitch, I was looking for a pitch out over the plate. With runners on second and third, I was trying to hit a fly ball and he threw me a cutter right over the middle.”
He also singled in the sixth and doubled down the left-field line in the eighth inning for 11 total bases in five at-bats. Mejia couldn’t even remember his last day at the plate like Sunday.
“I don’t even remember, it was a long time ago,” Mejia said. “I was feeling really good at the plate.”
Mejia entered the day hitting .222 with one homer.
“It was good and exciting, I need more games like that,” Mejia said. “I’m feeling good right now.”
Miller crushed a solo homer in his first at-bat of the game to lead off the second inning and added a double to lead off the fourth inning to start a four-run inning.
“We’ve been talking, and just trying to relax and see the ball good, not really think about anything else,” Miller said. “That’s what I was doing and just rolled with it.”
Northwest Arkansas scored two runs in each of the first three innings, added four in the fourth and its last one in the fifth inning to lead 11-5.
For the four-game series, the Natural banged out 49 hits, including 17 extra-base hits with five homers. Over the last 10 games, including four games at Arkansas in North Little Rock, they’ve had 20 doubles, seven triples and seven homers.
“Hitting is contagious,” Miller said. “We started at Arkansas and kind of haven’t stopped since. Hopefully, we can keep it going.”
Sunday, every batter had at least a hit in the lineup with multi-hit games by Mejia and Miller in addition to Donnie Dewees, Elier Hernandez, Luis Villegas and Jecksson Flores.
“We’re having a lot fun,” Miller said. “We came out aggressive. We tried to stay aggressive, one through nine.”
SHORT HOPS
Northwest Arkansas had a team cycle over the first two innings with two singles, a double, a triple and home run in taking a 4-0 lead.
In the four-game series against Tulsa, the Naturals scored 31 runs and had 49 hits with nine doubles, three triples and five homers accounting for 79 total bases.
Sunday, Northwest Arkansas had hits from all nine spots in the batting order with 17 hits in all.
On Deck: The Naturals host Arkansas for the opener of a four-game home stand against the Travelers today. Northwest Arkansas did not announce a starter while the Travelers will go with Anthony Misiewicz (0-2, 4.05), a lefty who played collegiately at Michigan State. The Naturals touched Misiewicz for four runs and 10 hits in five innings on May 8 and won, 7-2, in North Little Rock.
Tonight’s Promotion: Ozarks Electric Cooperative Corporation will sponsor $5 Dugout Premium Ticket night at Arvest Ballpark for Ozarks Electric Cooperative customers, which must show proof of being a customer. Tyson Foods will sponsor Dollar Hot Dogs while Indigo Sky Casino will sponsor bingo for prizes.
On The Air: KQSM-FM 92.1
On The Web: w w w.nwanaturals.com
ARKANSAS 1, SPRINGFIELD 0
Nathan Bannister tossed a four-hit shutout, leading the Arkansas to a win over Springfield. Springfield had a runner on second in the top of the ninth, but Randy Arozarena grounded out to end the game. Bannister (3-2) picked up the win after he struck out three and walked one. The game’s only run was scored in the bottom of the fifth inning. After leading off the inning with a single, Braden Bishop advanced to second on a wild pitch, went to third on a flyout, and then scored on an error. Jake Woodford (2-4) went six innings, allowing one run and six hits to take the hard-luck loss in the Texas League game. He also struck out five and walked one. The Cardinals were blanked for the first time this season, while the Travelers’ staff also registered their first shutout of the year.