NATURALS BLOWN OUT BY TRAVELERS

SPRINGDALE, AR – The Northwest Arkansas Naturals allowed two runs in the first inning and progressively fell further behind as the night went on and the Arkansas Travelers took the third game of the series, 18-3.

Tyler Gentry continued his hot hitting, as he gave the Naturals their first run of the game in the second inning on a solo home run to right-center, his first Double-A long ball.

The Naturals’ last two runs came in the seventh, as Ryan Grotjohn led off with a double and was followed by singles from Jake Means and Tucker Bradley. Bradley drove in Grotjohn, then Nick Loftin brought home Means on a fielder’s choice.

After a rough start from starter Zack Phillips, who could not record an out in the second inning, Christian Cosby came in and finished the second quickly, before encountering trouble in the third. All seven batters Cosby faced in the third inning came around to score, then Stephen Woods Jr. quieted the offense by getting three outs quickly, then pitching a scoreless fourth with three strikeouts around a walk.

Woods Jr. faced his own trouble in the fifth, as Walter Pennington relieved him. Pennington worked out of trouble and went on to throw 2.2 innings, striking out three and allowing two unearned runs to score in the seventh. Holden Capps followed Pennington in his second outing of the week, pitching two hitless and scoreless innings while tying a season-high with four strikeouts to finish the game.

The Growlin’ Chickens return to Arvest Ballpark on Friday and Saturday, with Alec Marsh headed to the mound Friday at 7:05 p.m. as Northwest Arkansas will try to even the series back up.