The Arkansas Travelers continued their strong play as of late and extended their winning streak to five games with a tightly contested 4-3 victory Tuesday over the Frisco RoughRiders at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock.
Jared Oliva picked up a pair of hits and three RBI in the contest to pace the Travelers as they earned their first home win of the season. Aaron Zavala led the RoughRiders offensively by collecting two hits and drawing a walk.
"I think for an early game, to have this kind of energy was good," Travelers Manager Christian Colon said after the win. "We had a great week last week, so this win right here is big to start this week. We've had timely hitting and outstanding pitching. I think our guys are just competing. They got the nerves out and we're doing good right now."
Frisco opened the scoring in the top of the first inning as Zavala smacked an RBI double to left field that scored Lian Hicks from first base. Zavala would score on a fielder's choice hit by Abimelec Ortiz to give the RoughRiders an early 2-0 lead.
Arkansas would answer with three runs in the bottom of the second. Ben Ramirez hit an RBI single that scored Tyler Locklear to pull the Travelers within a run at 2-1. One batter later, Oliva hit a sharp single to left field that scored Alberto Rodriguez and Ramirez to give Arkansas its first lead of the game at 3-2.
After giving up the two runs in the first inning, Travelers starting pitcher Raul Alcantara pitched four scoreless innings before being replaced after throwing 63 pitches. He gave up four hits and struck out four Frisco batters in the quality start.
"[Alcantara] did an outstanding job," Colon said. "He settled in nice after that first inning. We know his stuff is really good, it's just a matter of getting him in the zone. He did well."
Oliva added a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh to extend the Travelers' lead to 4-2. Arkansas was looking to add more offense in the seventh as it loaded the bases with just one out, but Steven Jennings came in relief for the RoughRiders and struck out Locklear and Robbie Tenerowicz to get out of the jam.
Frisco had a threat going in the top of the eighth with two runners on base when Colon made the decision to go to the bullpen with two outs. Garrett Davila replaced Blas Castano and forced Ortiz into an inning-ending groundout.
The RoughRiders would get a run back in the top of the ninth to make the score 4-3, but Peyton Alford was able to get the final three outs to preserve the win and pick up the save. Alcantara was credited with the win, while Frisco starter Ryan Garcia was the losing pitcher.
"They came in and did their job," Colon said of his bullpen. "They've been throwing the ball really well. [Pitching coach Michael] Peoples is doing a good job with them and they're ready to throw every night. It feels good. The boys are back at it."