ALEXANDER HOMERS FOR FOURTH STRAIGHT GAME BUT NATURALS DROP THIRD STRAIGHT TO TULSA

SPRINGDALE, AR – Northwest Arkansas Naturals designated hitter CJ Alexander collected his third straight multi-hit game with a home run for the fourth consecutive night, but the Naturals could not come back from an early deficit and fell to the Tulsa Drillers 9-2 Saturday night.

Alexander went 2-for-5, with a single in the third inning and two-run homer in the eighth, the Naturals’ only runs of the evening. It brings the infielder to 20 home runs in 2022, five with the Naturals. In 17 games with Northwest Arkansas, he’s driving in 19 runs.

This week against Tulsa, Alexander is batting .412 (7-for-17) with a double, four home runs and 11 runs batted in.

Starting pitcher Alec Marsh took the loss but turned in one of his better outings in recent memory, as he held the Drillers to just three runs on three hits over 5.0 innings, with seven strikeouts.

All three runs came around on home runs, a two-run shot for Tulsa in the first inning and solo homer in the second. After the second home run, Marsh retired 10 of his last 12, including a pair of 1-2-3 innings.

While Asa Lacy and Jonah Dipoto combined to surrender six runs in the sixth inning, Christian Chamberlain threw 2.0 scoreless innings to quiet the Drillers’ bats at the end of the game.

Beyond Alexander’s two-hit day, Tucker Bradley compiled a 3-for-5 game, with hits in his first three at-bats, but was stranded on base every time. Tyler Gentry and Logan Porter each collected two-hit games as well, while Nick Loftin drew two walks.

Northwest Arkansas will try to force a series split Sunday at 2:05 p.m. CT with right-hander Andrew Hoffmann headed to the mound.