Naturals Sweep Cardinals In Springfield
SPRINGFIELD, MISSOURI -- The Northwest Arkansas Naturals (31-32) are alive and well in the first-half hunt with six games to go after completing a sweep of the Springfield Cardinals (33-30) on Sunday afternoon. The Naturals took the first five games of the series, leading to a Father's Day showdown at
SPRINGFIELD, MISSOURI -- The Northwest Arkansas Naturals (31-32) are alive and well in the first-half hunt with six games to go after completing a sweep of the Springfield Cardinals (33-30) on Sunday afternoon. The Naturals took the first five games of the series, leading to a Father's Day showdown at Hammons field with Northwest Arkansas looking to win their seventh straight.
The offense put things together quickly on Sunday after going down in order the first time through the lineup. Trailing 2-0, NWA's offense got to work, scoring four runs in the frame while Gavin Cross, Luca Tresh, and Diego Hernandez each had hits.
Springfield wasn't so easily deterred, tying the game in the bottom of the fourth. Two innings later the Naturals went off again, this time a wild pitch, ground out, and Tresh's second hit of the day, a single, gave the Naturals a 7-4 boost.
Two more runs scored in the top of the seventh, but the Cardinals plated three in the bottom of the eighth to make it a two-run game. In the ninth, the Naturals scored five runs and sent 10 to the plate in an inning where Javier Vaz and Gavin Cross went deep, making it a 14-7 game. The Naturals went on to win by the same score.
NWA's 20 hits was a season-high while the team swept a six-game series for the first time in team history (the current six-game series format was adopted in 2021). The Naturals also own a seven-game win streak dating back to last Sunday's walk-off win against the Wichita Wind Surge.
Saturday's game was a one-run victory, 6-5, with Vaz homering in that game, as well. On Friday the Naturals earned their sixth shutout win of the year while Rodolfo Durán tied a single-game franchise record with three doubles and Tyson Guerrero earned his first win of the year thanks to his first quality start of 2024.
Thursday saw another massive flex by the offense in a 14-3 win. Five different players hit home runs against the Cardinals while the Naturals win streak rolled on. Wednesday Tresh blasted off to help secure a 7-2 win while the series opener was a 7-4 victory thanks to Shervyen Newton's first AA home run while he drove in three RBI.
The Naturals return to Arvest Ballpark on Tuesday to begin a six-game series with the Tulsa Drillers to close out the first half of the 2024 Texas League season. NWA is 3.5 games out of first place with an elimination number of four. Tulsa is also in the hunt, just 2.5 games out of first place heading into Tuesday's series opener at 7:05 PM CT in Springdale, Arkansas.