MATIAS HOMER WALKS NATURALS OFF OVER HOOKS

SPRINGDALE, AR – For the first time in 1,141 days, the Northwest Arkansas Naturals won a game on a walk-off home run, as Seuly Matias connected on a two-run shot in the bottom of the 10th inning to beat the Corpus Christi Hooks, 6-5.

After the Hooks scored twice in the first, then jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the third, the Naturals battled back with two in the seventh to tie the game and force extra innings.

While Corpus Christi scored twice in the top of the tenth, the Naturals battled hard in the bottom half. Placed runner Tucker Bradley tagged up from second on a fly ball to left field, the scored on a groundout. With two outs, Robbie Glendinning drew a full-count walk to bring Matias up to the plate to keep the game alive.

The home run from Matias represented his team-leading ninth of the season, the 14th walk-off homer in club history and the first since April 20, 2019, when Gabriel Cancel won the game against Springfield with a two-run shot in the 10th, for a 5-3 win over the Cardinals.

The walk-off was also the team’s third straight walk-off win against Corpus Christi after both game-winners last season came when the Hooks visited Arvest Ballpark.

The evening’s scoring for Northwest Arkansas started in the second inning, as Logan Porter homered for the second straight plate appearance. The catcher’s final at-bat Friday night was a one-out home run in the eighth, then he led off the second inning Saturday with his sixth home run of the year, at the time putting the Naturals within one run.

Down by two headed to the seventh, the Naturals used small ball to tie things up. John Rave led off the inning with a single and Jake Means walked, then both were moved over on a sac bunt from Parker Bates. Both runners moved up on a wild pitch, as Rave scored from third base to bring the Naturals within a run.

With two outs, Bradley pushed a bunt to the right side of the infield that he beat out at first, also scoring Means to tie the game and force extras.

On the mound, three Naturals combined for a strong pitching performance. Angel Zerpa tied a career-high with 10 strikeouts across 5.0 innings and was followed by Zack Phillips, who threw 2.2 scoreless frames, with three strikeouts. Jonah Dipoto took over for Phillips in the eighth and went on to retire five straight into extra innings, including four on strikeouts.

While the Hooks scored two runs (one earned) off Dipoto, he finished the 10th with his fifth strikeout of the night, giving the staff a total of 18, a season-high as a club, while he threw a career-high 45 pitches to earn his first win of the year.

Northwest Arkansas will try and split the series with Corpus Christi Sunday afternoon at Arvest Ballpark, as Alec Marsh will head to the mound for the second time this week, a 2:05 p.m. CT first pitch.