Naturals Win in 12

SPRINGDALE, AR – Clay Dungan sent Northwest Arkansas to its first walk-off win of the year Thursday night by lining a single into right field, scoring Blake Perkins from third base as the Naturals edged the Hooks, 4-3, in 12 innings at Arvest Ballpark.

The clubs matched zeros after Corpus Christi shortstop Grae Kessinger clubbed a lead-off home run to left-center in the seventh, his eighth of the year, to tie the game at 3.

The Hooks enjoyed sterling relief as Joe Record worked a perfect seventh. Nick Hernandez followed by retiring nine of the 11 men he faced, striking out six. Hernandez sidestepped a two-out single in the eighth and an intentional walk of Vinnie Pasquantino in the 10th.

Michael Horrell spun a 1-2-3 11th but could not prevent the unearned run in the 12th.

Pasquantino gave the Naturals their first run in the back-and forth affair with a two-out home run in the third against Brandon Lawson.

Northwest Arkansas scratched out an unearned marker in the fourth, capitalizing on an errant pickoff attempt.

The Hooks struck in the first with a two-out rally at the expense of Angel Zerpa. David Hensley reached via an eight-pitch walk and advanced to third on a base hit by Enmanuel Valdez. Alex McKenna was next and made it 1-0 by driving a single through the right side.

Corpus Christi leveled the game at two in the sixth thanks to a lead-off double by Joe Perez and Hensley’s line-drive single to left.

Andres Nunez, who threw a two-inning save on Tuesday, blanked CC over the three frames, despite the Hooks placing the go-ahead run at third with one out in the 10th and 11th.

Jose Cuas was perfect in the 12th for the win, leaving the automatic runner at second.

Thursday marked the first time Corpus Christi played 12 innings this year, and the fourth time since the extra-inning rule went to effect in 2018.

Jimmy Endersby is set to take the ball in Game 4 Friday night as the Hooks try to draw level in the series. First pitch 7:05.