Tulsa did not have much success against the Arkansas Travelers during the regular season, but the Drillers have turned things in their favor during the playoffs.
Cody Thomas doubled in two runs in the fifth inning to break a 1-1 tie, leading Tulsa to a 6-1 victory Friday night in front 3,570 spectators at ONEOK Field.
Tulsa holds a 2-1 advantage in the best-of-five North Division series. Arkansas won 12 of 15 games played at Tulsa during the regular season, but will now have to win the next two games to advance to the Texas League championship, which starts Tuesday in either Midland or Amarillo.
Thomas drove in Tulsa's first three runs. His single in the second inning scored Conner Wong to give the Drillers a 1-0 advantage.
Arkansas picked up its lone run in the fifth inning. Evan White was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to tie the game at 1-1.
The tie did not last long. Tulsa's Omar Estevez reached on a fielding error by third baseman Mike Ahmed. With one out, Wong and Cristian Santana drew walks to load the bases. On a one-ball, one-strike offering from Travelers reliever Jack Anderson, Thomas sent a liner to left field to score both Estevez and Wong. Donovan Casey capped the three-run inning with a sacrifice fly.
Starter Markus Solbach earned the victory, allowing 6 hits and 2 walks while striking out 4 in 51/3 innings. Michael Boyle went 12/3 innings with 1 hit allowed and 1 strikeout. Shea Spitzbarth tossed the final 2 innings, giving up 2 hits and striking out 3.
Anderson took the loss, giving up three runs, although only one was earned. He walked two and struck out one.
Arkansas had a chance to grab a lead in the second inning when Cal Raleigh singled to start the inning and Kyle Lewis followed with a double to left field. But Raleigh was thrown out at home, and Lewis was eventually left stranded at third.
Tulsa added a run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Wong. The Drillers scored their final run in the eighth on back-to-back doubles by Jeter Downs and Estevez.
ARKANSAS AB R H BI TULSA AB R H BI
Walton, ss 4 0 0 0 Downs, ss 5 1 1 0
Kelenic, cf 4 0 0 0 Estevez, 2b 4 1 1 1
White, 1b 3 0 1 1 Parmelee, 1b 3 0 0 0
Raleigh, dh 4 0 1 0 Wong, 3b 1 2 1 1
Lewis, lf 4 0 2 0 Santana, dh 3 1 1 0
Cowan, 2b 4 0 1 0 Thomas, cf 4 0 2 3
T.-Willims, rf 4 1 1 0 Casey, lf-rf 3 0 1 1
Ahmed, 3b 3 0 1 0 Rincon, rf 4 0 1 0
Thurman, c 3 0 2 0 Avans, lf 0 0 0 0
Procyshen, c 3 1 1 0
TOTALS 33 1 9 1 totals 30 6 9 6
Arkansas 000 010 000 -- 1 9 1
Tulsa 010 031 01x -- 6 9 0
E -- Ahmed. DP -- Tulsa 1. LOB -- Arkansas 9, Tulsa 9. 2B -- Lewis, Thomas, Downs, Estevez. SAC -- Thurman. SF -- Casey, Wong. CS -- Casey.
Arkansas IP H R ER BB SO
McKinney 32/3 4 1 1 2 5
Anderson L, 0-1 11/3 1 3 1 2 1
Wilcox 1/3 1 1 1 1 0
Tenuta 12/3 1 0 0 1 2
Boches 1 2 1 1 0 2
TULSA IP H R ER BB SO
Solbach W, 1-0 51/3 6 1 1 2 4
Boyle 12/3 1 0 0 0 1
Spitzbarth 2 2 0 0 0 3
HBP -- by Solbach (White), by McKinney (Procyshen). PB -- Thurman. Umpires -- Home: Matamoros; First: Ghani Second: Robinson; Third: Hernandez. Time -- 3:04. Attendance -- 3,570.
Sports on 09/07/2019