Sod Poodles Drop Series Opener in Springdale

Springdale, Arkansas (April 18, 2023) – Amarillo began their six-game road trip with a 16-6 loss to the Northwest Arkansas Naturals on Tuesday night. The Sod Poodles jumped out early, but were unable to keep pace with the Naturals who collected 15 hits and scored in seven of the eight innings they batted in.

It was a 2-0 Amarillo lead after the second batter of the game. Ryan Bliss continued his Texas League tear, collecting a leadoff single before Jordan Lawlar brought him home with a towering homer to left field. The D-backs' no.1-rated prospect collected his third round-tripper of the season and second in as many games after having Sunday off.

A solo home run tightened the game in the bottom of the first, but RHP Deyni Olivero left the inning with a one-run lead after allowing the two-out solo shot. After Amarillo failed to push across a run and left a pair of runners stranded, the Naturals tied the game in the bottom of the second. Former Sod Poodle Jeison Guzman recorded a one-out double, later scoring on a wild pitch to even the score.

Lawlar drew a leadoff walk and made it all the way to third after a steal and a ground ball pushed him 90 feet away from once again giving Amarillo the lead. With the infield playing in, a sharply hit ground ball was played perfectly to cut down Lawlar, keeping the game tied.

Four hits and as many runs for the Naturals brought an end to Olivero's night as Jeff Bain was brought in from the Sod Poodles bullpen in the bottom of the third inning. Bain retired the first batter he faced to keep one runner left stranded and a 6-2 Naturals lead.

The Sod Poodles got three of those runs right back to start the fourth frame. Following a one-out single by Adrian Del Castillo and a Tristin English walk, Neyfy Castillo brought the Sod Poodles within a run of the lead. Down 0-2 in the count, Castillo launched his first homer of the season 418 feet to left field.

As they had earlier in the game, the Naturals responded with runs of their own. John Rave hit his second home run of the contest, this time a two-run shot to extend the deficit back to three runs. He added to his night with his third home run of the game - a three-run shot in the sixth, making it 11-5 in favor of the Naturals.

Bliss tripled in the seventh, later scoring on a Lawlar sac fly to make it a 11-6 game. The Royals Double-A farm club put two more across after a two-out, two-RBI single, the only Naturals hit of the bottom of the seventh. The Naturals added another three runs in the eighth, this time doing so on three hits before the final call to the bullpen of the game brought on Nick Dalesandro. An outfielder, Delasandro struck out the only batter he faced on just three pitches to retire the side and send Amarillo back to bat in the top of the ninth.

A 1-2-3 inning by the Amarillo bats brought the game to an end as the Sod Poodles dropped the series opener to the Naturals 16-6.

The Sod Poodles will look to bounce back on Wednesday and even the series at a game a piece. D-backs' no.25 rated prospect will toe the rubber for Amarillo. Jarvis's last start saw him earn the win, going 5.0 IP and allowing just one earned run against the Corpus Christi Hooks last Thursday night. He struck out eight in the outing while allowing just three hits as the Sod Poodles collected a 5-2 win. First pitch from Arvest Ballpark is slated for 7:05 p.m.

NOTES:

LONG BALL OF THE LAW: Former 6th overall pick, and the current no. 1-rated prospect in the Diamondbacks system got the scoring started with a 2-run homer in the top of the first inning. It was Lawlar's second straight game with a homer, making him the first Sod Poodle player this year to notch a homer in back-to-back games. The 20-year old is hitting .290 (9-for-31) with three home runs, two doubles, and eight RBI through the first nine games of the season. His 1.070 OPS is second on the club, only trailing the man who typically hits in front of him, Ryan Bliss.

ONE? TWO? NEY, THREE!: OF Neyfy Castillo launched his first home run of the season after hitting 11 a season ago between High-A Hillsboro and two games with the ACL D-backs. The Dominican Republic native, Castillo was T-3rd in the organization in 2021, launching 21 homers in 103 games with Low-A Visalia. Through his first six Double-A games, Castllo has collected a total of four hits, three of which have been of the extra base variety (2 2B, HR). His three-run homer in the fourth inning had cut the Naturals lead to just one run at the time.

EVERY DAY IS BLISS-MAS:2B Ryan Bliss continued his tear to begin the season, collecting another three-hit night. The former Auburn Tiger leads Double-A with 19 hits while his .442 batting average is second among all Double-A players currently. Bliss has logged a hit in all nine games played to begin the season and only has two games where he failed to record at least two hits. Tuesday night was his third 3-hit effort, two more than any other Sod Poodle.

TALLY A TWO-HIT NIGHT: Adrian Del Castillo also pitched in with a multi-hit effort, going 2-for-3 with a run scored and a walk in the series opener against the Naturals. It was Del Castillo's first two-hit night since the season-opener. The former Miami Hurricane is now hitting .240 (6-for-25) with a double, home run, and pair of RBI in seven games to begin his Double-A career.

DELI CHEESE: OF Nick Dalesandro made his professional pitching debut, collecting a three-pitch strikeout of the only man he faced. He became the 10th Amarillo position player to take the mound since the start of 2019.