SPRINGDALE -- The Northwest Arkansas Naturals built a three-game winning streak with solid pitching.
Sunday, they made it four straight with an offensive outburst, bludgeoning Tulsa 10-3 before 5,750 attendees at Arvest Ballpark to sweep the four-game series.
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS 10, TULSA 3
Tulsa^100^000^002^—^3^9^1
NW Arkansas^003^6^10x^—^10^13^3
Tulsa AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Locastro, SS 4 1 2 1 0 1 2 0.333
Hoenecke, DH 5 0 2 1 0 1 5 0.239
Garlick, RF 5 0 0 0 0 2 4 0.245
Rios, 1B 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 0.311
Farmer, C 4 0 1 0 0 0 3 0.277
Mejia, E, 3B 2 1 0 0 2 0 2 0.308
Fernandez, 2B 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 0.333
Scavuzzo, LF 4 0 1 1 0 0 1 0.171
Landon, CF 4 0 2 0 0 0 1 0.294
Totals 36 3 9 3 2 5 20
2B: Hoenecke (3, Lovvorn); Scavuzzo (2, Lovvorn); Farmer (2, Lovvorn); Fernandez (4, Goudeau). TB: Landon 2; Hoenecke 3; Scavuzzo 2; Fernandez 2; Locastro 2; Farmer 2. RBI: Hoenecke (6); Scavuzzo (5); Locastro (5). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Farmer 2; Locastro; Hoenecke; Mejia, E; Garlick. SF: Locastro. Team RISP: 2-for-14. Team LOB: 9. PO: Mejia, E (1st base by Lovvorn); Locastro (1st base by Evans). E: Mejia, E (3, fielding).
NW Arkansas AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Sosa, R, 2B 5 1 1 1 0 3 5 0.27
Escalera, LF 5 1 1 0 0 1 4 0.317
Duenez, 1B 5 1 2 5 0 1 1 0.292
Schwindel, DH 5 0 2 1 0 0 2 0.35
Evans, C 5 1 2 0 0 2 2 0.149
Arteaga, SS 4 1 1 0 0 0 2 0.22
Moon, RF 4 2 2 2 0 0 0 0.235
Lopez, Jac, 3B 1 2 0 1 1 1 0 0.25
Gore, CF 3 1 2 0 0 0 0 0.231
Totals 37 10 13 10 1 8 16
2B: Sosa, R (4, Sborz); Duenez 2 (4, Sborz, Sborz); Arteaga (1, Sborz); Schwindel (5, Kowalczyk); Escalera (2, Cash). HR: Moon (2, 7th inning off Cash, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Arteaga 2; Moon 5; Schwindel 3; Gore 2; Duenez 4; Sosa, R 2; Evans 2; Escalera 2. RBI: Sosa, R (5); Duenez 5 (20); Moon 2 (8); Lopez, Jac (2); Schwindel (12).
2-out RBI: Sosa, R; Duenez 5; Schwindel. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Escalera; Schwindel; Sosa, R; Arteaga; Evans. SAC: Gore; Lopez, Jac. Team RISP: 7-for-16. Team LOB: 7. E: Sosa, R (2, throw); Lopez, Jac (2, throw); Arteaga (3, fielding). Pickoffs: Lovvorn (Mejia, E at 1st base); Evans (Locastro at 1st base).
PITCHING
Tulsa IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Sborz (L, 0-1) 3.2 7 9 7 0 4 0 14.73
Kowalczyk 2.1 4 0 0 1 2 0 1.08
Cash 2 2 1 1 0 2 1 4.66
NW Arkansas IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Lovvorn (W, 2-1) 6 5 1 1 1 1 0 1.9
Hill 1.2 2 0 0 0 2 0 10.13
Goudeau 0.1 1 2 2 1 0 0 5.23
Redman 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 6.23
Goudeau pitched to 3 batters in the 9th.
WP: Lovvorn. HBP: Lopez, Jac (by Sborz).
Umpires: HP: Kyle McCrady. 1B: Jeff Gorman. 3B: Grant Conrad.
T: 2:47. Att: 5,750.
"You start with winning the series, and then we talked to the guys about there are two things that happen when you go for a sweep," Northwest Arkansas Manager Vance Wilson said. "One, you get beat by a good team or you have some contentment that you've already won the series. Most of the coaching is about human nature. We talk about mechanics and all that, but really the human part of the athlete gets in the way a lot of the time. I wanted them to make sure that all that mattered was today; nine innings, first pitch. It doesn't matter what we've done, what we haven't done. All that matters is today."
The Naturals (8-8) beat Tulsa (6-10) by a combined 10-6 in the first three games of the series with the bullpen tossing six shutout innings.
Sunday, the Naturals unloaded offensively, pounding out 13 hits, including six doubles and a homer. They also received some help from Tulsa's defense. The Drillers officially were charged with just one error, but they were much worse than that.
"I was proud of the guys going out and taking it to them and being aggressive," Wilson said. "We kind of fed off a couple of their mistakes. I was proud of how we went about business."
Northwest Arkansas scored three runs in the third inning. Jack Lopez was hit by a pitch with one out and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Terrance Gore. Ruben Sosa doubled Lopez home to tie the game at 1-1. Alfredo Escalera reached on an error by Tulsa third baseman Erick Mejia, and Sosa and Escalera scored on a double by Samir Duenez.
The Naturals added six more runs in the fourth inning, sending 10 batters to the plate. Zane Evans led off with a single, and Humberto Arteaga doubled before Logan Moon singled home Evans. Lopez put down a bunt, which Tulsa first baseman Edwin Rios threw away at home trying to get Arteaga. Gore popped up a bunt down the third base line, just in fair territory, which Tulsa catcher Kyle Farmer dived for but couldn't catch, loading the bases. After two strikeouts, Duenez cleared the bases with a double. Frank Schwindel followed with a single, scoring Duenez to cap the six-run frame.
"We fed off some of their mistakes, but our guys were aggressive on the bases, and put the ball in play," Wilson said. "When you do things like that, good things happen."
While the offense came alive on Sunday, the Naturals' pitching stayed stellar.
Starter Zach Lovvorn allowed a leadoff single to Tim Locastro and a run-scoring double to the next batter, Paul Hoenecke, as Tulsa took a quick 1-0 lead to start the game. Lovvorn answered with five straight scoreless innings.
"We didn't have our best stuff all four games, but you talk about guys battling and not giving in to the pressure of not having their best stuff," Wilson said. "Our defense was huge for our pitching this year. Our defense did some great things behind them. Between that, that's really why we did so well."
Lovvorn allowed just three more hits and pitched to only four batters over the minimum until giving way to Tim Hill to begin the seventh.
Moon clubbed a solo homer to lead off the seventh inning for the Naturals' final run.
Tulsa did manage two runs in the ninth, which was the first runs scored off the Naturals' bullpen in the series, but one was unearned.
SHORT HOPS
• First baseman Samir Duenez drove in five runs on Sunday, which is a season-high for the Naturals, eclipsing the four runs batted in, also by Duenez, on April 17 against Corpus Christi.
• Six of the Naturals' runs on Sunday scored with two outs.
• Naturals starter Zach Lovvorn has allowed two or fewer runs in all four starts this season and lowered his earned run average to a sparkling 1.90 with one run in six innings on Sunday.
On Deck: Northwest Arkansas continues a home stand and opens a four-game series against Springfield. Lefty Matt Tenuta (1-0, 9.82) will earn the start for the Naturals. Tenuta will make his fourth appearance, including his third start, of the season but first against Springfield. Right-hander Sandy Alcantara (2-1, 5.87) will be on the mound for Springfield. Alcantara was brilliant in his first start of the season, throwing six shutout innings against Frisco, but has given up 10 earned runs in his last two starts in 9 1/3 innings.
Tonight's Promotion: Ozarks Electric Cooperative Corporation will sponsor Monday Night Lights. Ozarks Electric customers who bring their electric bill or a Co-op Connections Card to the Arvest Ballpark Box Office will receive $5 premium tickets. Tyson Foods will sponsor Dollar Hot Dogs.
On The Air: KQSM-FM 92.1
On The Web: www.nwanaturals.com
Sports on 04/24/2017