Sod Poodles Rack Up 11 Hits in Loss

Springdale, Ark – After taking the first game of the series in extras, the Sod Poodles dropped game two against the Royals Double-A affiliate 12-6 on Wednesday night to knot the series at a game apiece.

Neither team scored in the opening frame from Arvest Ballpark but traded blows each of the next two innings. Sod Poodles catcher/utility man Nick Dalesandro got the scoring started when he scored Ti'Quan Forbes on a sacrifice fly. The Naturals matched that run with one of their own, a leadoff home run in the bottom of the inning off Amarillo starter Slade Cecconi. After seeing the game tied on the first pitch of the second inning, Cecconi helped retire the next three batters in order.

Just as the Naturals did, outfielder Corbin Carroll jumped on the first pitch of the top of the third inning, belting his fourth home run of the year to give the Sod Poodles another one-run lead, however, the lead would not last long.

Cecconi struck out the first batter he faced in the bottom of the third inning before a hit by pitch put a Naturals' runner on base. A single put runners on the corners and allowed the tying run to score on an errant pickoff attempt. After seeing the bases become loaded, Cecconi pitched his way out of that jam by retiring the next two hitters to keep the contest tied.

The Sod Poodles put together a two-out rally in the top of the fourth to once again put themselves in front of the Naturals. Dalesandro singled to center field and then swiped second base to get into scoring position. A single off the bat of Jancarlos Cintron scored Dalesandro, putting Amarillo up 3-2. NW Arkansas then separated in the bottom of the 4th. Another leadoff home run, this time on a 0-1 pitch tied the game but was the first of seven runs to cross the plate for the Naturals as they built a six-run lead off Cecconi (0-1) and reliever Justin Vernia.

Amarillo was able to cut the lead a little bit follwing a two-run, three-hit sixth inning highlighted by Forbes' fourth double of the year and another Cintron single to help score Dalesandro. Amarillo was within a swing of the bat only for a couple of batters as the Naturals pushed their lead back to seven runs after a three-run bottom of the sixth.

Forbes would score once more on a wild pitch in the top of the 8th to make it a 12-6 game in favor of the Naturals.

The action continues from Northwest Arkansas tomorrow night as the two teams will be back at it for a chance to take the series lead. RHP and D-backs No. 7 rated prospect, Bryce Jarvis will be on the bump for Amarillo. Jarvis was named Texas League Pitcher of the Week already this year and has looked as impressive as ever. The former Duke Blue Devil and No. 18 overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft is 1-0 with a 4.40 ERA through three starts including coming off his last start that included a 20-minute hail delay at HODGETOWN.

Notes

Springdale, Where Streaks Go To Die: Sod Poodles INF Leandro Cedeño saw his seven-game hit streak come to an end on Wednesday night after going 0-for-5 with a strikeout. INF Blaze Alexander also saw his streak of consecutive games with a RBI come to an end at 5 games. Alexander had previously had a RBI in all five games he played so far in 2022. Still, Alexander stayed hot at the plate, picking up another two hits including a double to raise his AVG to a smooth .409.

Ok, It's Not All SOOO Bad: Even though a couple of Sod Poodles players had their streaks come to an end, a couple of players extended theirs or got a monkey off their back. Jancarlos Cintron extended his current hit streak to a team-best eight games after going 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI on Wednesday.Over this current span, Cintron is hitting .364 (12-for-33) with two doubles, a home run, 10 RBI, and six runs scored. The fifth-year pro has hit safely in all but two games so far in 2022, slashing .290/.324/.452 through 16 games. Andy Yerzy was able to get the monkey off his back, notching the first two hits on the road this season for the 23-year-old Ontario native. Yerzy entered the game 0-for-13 away from HODGETO in six games played.

Ti'Quan SCOREbes: Sod Poodles' third baseman Ti'Quan Forbes crossed the plate three times on Wednesday, marking the fifth time in his 702 game Minor League Career - and second in 15 games played this season - he has scored three runs in a single game. Forbes also scored three times last Tuesday in the 19-10 win over the San Antonio Missions. After a 2-for-3 day at the plate with a double, and walk, Forbes is now hitting .304 in the 15 games since joining the team on the last Sunday of Opening Weekend. Through two games in this series, Forbes already has more hits (4) than he did in his first six road games in Tulsa (1).

Cor-BOMB Carroll: The Arizona Diamondbacks No. 2 rated prospect hit his fourth home run of the year with a solo, opposite-field home run in the top of the third inning. The Seattle-area native is slashing .350/.459/.667 in 15 games played so far. His four home runs are tied for the second-most in the Arizona farm system along with No. 3 rated prospect Jordan Lawler, fellow Soddie Juan Centeno, and 2021 Soddies Stone Garrett (Reno) and Camden Duzenack (Reno).

Big Inning: The Naturals built their lead and subsequent win off the back of a seven-run bottom of the 4th inning. The Naturals used eight hits to plate those seven runs and both became season-highs for the Sod Poodles pitching staff. The team had previously allowed a season-high six runs to come across in the same inning back on April 13 on the road in Tulsa. The previous high for hits in an inning came on Opening Weekend when the Midland RockHounds had six knocks to take the lead in the 10th inning.