ALCANTARA EARNS WIN IN DOUBLE-A DEBUT AS NATURALS TAKE SERIES OPENER WITH FRISCO

SPRINGDALE, AR ­– Northwest Arkansas Naturals starting pitcher Adrian Alcantara struck out five across 5.0 innings in his Double-A debut as the Naturals won the series opener with the Frisco RoughRiders, 8-4 at Arvest Ballpark.

Alcantara kept Frisco off the board with a scoreless first inning, then rebounded after a leadoff hit in the second to retire six straight and face the minimum through the fourth, with just one run across in the first four frames.

The RoughRiders tagged the Naturals’ right-hander for three runs on a pair of walks and home run in the fifth inning that quickly gave Frisco a 4-3 lead. The Naturals, however, went on to score five unanswered runs to come back and take the game.

CJ Alexander narrowly missed a home run in the first inning, instead settling for an RBI triple that started the scoring. Two batters later, Alexander came around to score on an RBI infield single from John Rave.

After Frisco starter Jack Leiter held Northwest Arkansas off the board the next two innings, Luca Tresh opened the fourth with a solo home run, his fourth with the Naturals and 18th overall this year.

With two outs in the fifth, the Naturals rallied and put five straight on base to score two runs against Leiter and the RoughRiders bullpen, four of the five batters reaching on walks, including bases loaded free passes to Tresh and Jeison Guzmán.

Up by a run in the sixth, the Naturals added more insurance, with RBI singles from Tyler Gentry and Rave that moved the advantage to three runs. Gentry added one more in the seventh on a sacrifice fly to put the dagger in Frisco.

All nine Naturals hitters reached base at least once, with seven reaching twice or more. Diego Hernández, Robbie Glendinning and Rave each reached base in four of five plate appearances, with Hernández drawing three of the Naturals’ nine walks at the plate.

After Alcantara pitched through the fifth, right-hander Nate Webb fired 1.2 inning scoreless with three strikeouts, exiting in the seventh with a runner on for Stephen Woods Jr., who finished the game. Woods Jr. stranded the inherited runner on and faced one over the minimum, as he tied a season high with four strikeouts over 2.1 scoreless innings and earned his first save of the season.

The Naturals will try and make it two straight wins on Wednesday, with a 7:05 p.m. CT start against Frisco, and left-hander T.J. Sikkema headed to the mound.