NATURALS COME FROM BEHIND, AS BULLPEN DOMINATES CORPUS CHRISTI

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX – Despite falling behind in the first inning, the Northwest Arkansas Naturals did not give up Friday night, coming from behind to take the lead in the seventh for a 9-5 win, the team's first this week against the Corpus Christi Hooks.

Emilio Márquez, Eric Skoglund and Ándres Sotillet combined for 8.1 scoreless innings of relief, as the bullpen combined to hold Corpus Christi to five hits and one walk, while striking out 10 in the win.

After starting pitcher Asa Lacy could not make it out of the first inning, Márquez entered the game in the bottom of the first with two outs and the bases loaded for his Naturals debut. After initially allowing a pair of inherited runs to score, ballooning the Hooks' lead to 5-2, he retired the next seven he faced, including perfect second and third innings.

Márquez loaded the bases with no outs to begin the fourth, but retired the next three he faced, including a pair on strikeouts to finish 3.1 scoreless innings in his first Double-A game.

Skoglund followed Márquez with a scoreless fifth and 1-2-3 sixth inning, retiring a stretch of sixth straight into the seventh, before putting a pair on. After a walk and single, Sotillet took over and retired all seven batters he faced, shutting down Corpus Christi over the final 2.1 innings of the game, to earn his fourth save of the year, while Skoglund collected his second win, improving to 2-0.

Offensively, the top of the order produced nearly all of the offense for Northwest Arkansas, as the top four hitters combined to go 11-for-17 at the plate with seven extra-base hits, drive in six runs and score all nine runs. Nick Loftin led the way going 4-for-5, while Tyler Gentry went 3-for-5. Robbie Glendinning and Logan Porter each collected two hits and drove in a pair of runs as well, in some of the game's biggest moments.

The first four batters of the game reached, as the Naturals jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Loftin doubled to open the game, then scored on a Gentry single. Glendinning singled and Porter walked to load the bases, and Gentry scored on a Seuly Matias fielders' choice.

Down by three runs after the first, Loftin hit his career-best 11th home run of the season in the third inning, a solo homer to bring the Naturals within two. Porter then brought the Naturals within a run in the fifth with his ninth homer of the season, his second this week.

With the bullpen keeping the Hooks at bay, Porter tied the game in the seventh with a one-out RBI double, then a pair scored to take the lead, as Matias reached on a two-out error by Corpus Christi's right fielder, a 7-5 lead the Naturals did not relinquish.

In the eighth, Glendinning added two more runs of insurance on a double in the right-center field gap, bringing his RBI total this season to a further team-best 57.

Northwest Arkansas will look to win its second straight game Saturday at 7:05 p.m. CT, as right-hander Noah Murdock takes the mound.