GENTRY COLLECTS FIVE HITS AS NATURALS SPLIT DOUBLEHEADER WITH DRILLERS

Naturals win first game 5-3, Drillers take game two 12-1.

Outfielder Tyler Gentry went 5-for-8 with two doubles and two runs batted in, as he stretched his on-base streak to 27 games in Friday's doubleheader split in Tulsa. (David McLelland)

By Naturals PR Department

September 2, 2022

TULSA, OK – The Northwest Arkansas Naturals and Tulsa Drillers split a doubleheader Friday night at ONEOK Field, as the Naturals took game one 5-3 and the Drillers came ahead with the victory in game two, 12-1. Outfielder Tyler Gentry led the way at the plate for the Naturals, as

TULSA, OK – The Northwest Arkansas Naturals and Tulsa Drillers split a doubleheader Friday night at ONEOK Field, as the Naturals took game one 5-3 and the Drillers came ahead with the victory in game two, 12-1.

Outfielder Tyler Gentry led the way at the plate for the Naturals, as he went a combined 5-for-8 over the two games, with two doubles and two runs batted in. Gentry has now reached base in 27 consecutive games dating back to July 30, tied for the second-longest on-base streak in Naturals history.

Gentry doubled in a run in the first inning to start the scoring, the Naturals added insurance in the third and fourth, on a two-run homer from Diego Hernández, RBI single from Seuly Matias and solo home run from Tucker Bradley, his third straight game with a long ball and 12th of the year.

Starting pitcher Andrew Hoffmann earned his second win of the season in game one, as the right-hander allowed three runs on four hits over 5.0 innings with three strikeouts. Emilio Márquez followed Hoffmann and fired 2.0 hitless and scoreless innings to earn his first save with Northwest Arkansas.

The second game of the night took a drastic turn from the first, as Tulsa struck for four runs in the bottom of the first inning, all unearned to starting pitcher T.J. Sikkema. A two-out fielding error from the Naturals led to the four runs scoring, then the Drillers tagged Sikkema for six more in the third to end his night, for a season-worst 10 runs allowed in just 3.0 innings of work.

Will Klein followed Sikkema with 2.0 scoreless frames, striking out four, but the Drillers added two more against Nate Webb in the sixth to jump ahead 12-0.

The Naturals’ lone run of the second game came with two outs in the top of the seventh, as Gentry bounced a single up the middle to score Morgan McCullough as Northwest Arkansas avoided the shutout.

With the series now even at two games each, the Naturals will try and jump ahead Saturday at 7:05 p.m. CT, with right-hander Jon Bowlan headed to the mound for Northwest Arkansas.