Naturals take down Riders in series opener
SPRINGDALE, Arkansas (September 13, 2022) – The Frisco RoughRiders fell to the Northwest Arkansas Naturals 8-4 in the opener of the final regular season series on Tuesday from Arvest Ballpark. Scott Kapers hit a three-run go-ahead home run in the fifth, but a Naturals comeback win began the series. Box
SPRINGDALE, Arkansas (September 13, 2022) – The Frisco RoughRiders fell to the Northwest Arkansas Naturals 8-4 in the opener of the final regular season series on Tuesday from Arvest Ballpark. Scott Kapers hit a three-run go-ahead home run in the fifth, but a Naturals comeback win began the series.
Northwest Arkansas (25-39, 56-76) started the scoring in the bottom of the first inning against RoughRiders (35-28, 71-61) starter Jack Leiter (3-10). C.J. Alexander ripped an RBI triple off of the wall in right before a John Rave infield RBI single made it 2-0.
Leiter took the loss, allowing five runs, all earned, on five hits over his 4.2 innings. He walked a career-high six batters while striking out four.
The Riders made it a one-run game in the second when Trevor Hauver plated Luisangel Acuna with a sacrifice fly, cutting the deficit to 2-1.
After the Naturals added on to their lead with a Luca Tresh solo home run in the fourth, Kapers gave the RoughRiders the lead 4-3 with a three-run blast of his own in the fifth. It was Kapers' third home run at the Double-A level and his second-straight game with a three-run shot.
The lead did not last long though, as Northwest Arkansas coaxed back-to-back bases-loaded walks from Tresh and Jeison Guzman in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a 5-4 lead.
The Naturals added two more runs in the sixth on RBI singles by Tyler Gentry and John Rave before a Gentry sacrifice fly in the seventh bumped their lead to 8-4.
Adrian Alcantara (1-0) earned the win for Northwest Arkansas, going five innings in his Double-A debut, while Stephen Woods Jr. threw 2.1 innings of shutout baseball to capture his first save of the season.
Justin Foscue led the way on the offensive side for the Riders with three hits.
While Frisco lost, Midland fell as well (3-1 to Wichita), meaning the Frisco magic number to clinch a playoff spot is now just three with five games remaining.
The RoughRiders and Naturals meet for game two of the series on Wednesday, September 14th at 7:05 p.m. LHP Cody Bradford (9-7, 5.22) starts for the Riders against RHP T.J. Sikkema (0-4, 7.48) for Northwest Arkansas.
For tickets and more information about the Frisco RoughRiders, visit RidersBaseball.com or call 972.731.9200.
About the RoughRiders
The Frisco RoughRiders are the Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. The team was founded in 2003 and has finished first among all Double-A franchises in attendance for 15 consecutive seasons (2005-2019). In August 2014, the RoughRiders were purchased by an ownership group led by Chuck Greenberg. Since then, the new ownership group, together with the City of Frisco, has spearheaded numerous major franchise enhancements, investing over $8 million in a wide array of facility upgrades and improvements, including a state-of-the-art HD video board, sound system, Bull Moose Saloon, InTouch Grille, Riders Outpost Team Store and the world's largest water feature in a sports facility, the massive Lazy River. These enhancements earned the Riders and the City of Frisco Ballpark Digest's prestigious "Best Ballpark Renovation" award for two consecutive years (2015 and 2016). More than 170 former RoughRiders players have gone on to play Major League Baseball. For more information on the Frisco RoughRiders, please visit RidersBaseball.com or contact [email protected].