NATURALS GET BACK IN WIN COLUMN WITH SHUTOUT OVER WIND SURGE

WICHITA, KS – The Northwest Arkansas Naturals dominated the Wichita Wind Surge from the opening minutes of Wednesday’s ballgame, as the Naturals got back in the win column with a 5-0 win over the Wind Surge at Riverfront Stadium.

Starting pitcher Dante Biasi delivered his second straight scoreless start, once again throwing 5.0 innings without allowing a run. The left-hander held Wichita to just one hit and three walks, while striking out five.

Behind Biasi, the Naturals’ bullpen continued the dominance over the Wind Surge, as the pitching staff combined for a three-hit shutout. Asa Lacy was the first arm out of the bullpen, firing 2.0 hitless and scoreless innings with a pair of strikeouts behind Biasi.

Will Klein and Yefri Del Rosario each worked scoreless as well after Lacy’s outing, with Del Rosario allowing the third and final Wind Surge hit of the night, a two-out single in the ninth.

While the four pitchers combined to walk eight, they also struck out 11. Three hits allowed was the fewest since June 9 when Anthony Veneziano threw a three-hit shutout of the Tulsa Drillers at ONEOK Field. The game was the fifth this year of three hits or less for the pitching staff, including three of the Naturals’ now four shutout wins.

Tucker Bradley reached on an error to open the game in the top of the first inning, coming around to third, then he promptly scored on a Nick Loftin groundout, for a 1-0 lead that the Naturals did not relinquish.

In the second, Bradley drew a bases-loaded walk to score Seuly Matias from third, then John Rave opened up the fourth with a solo home run that pushed the score to 3-0.

Northwest Arkansas scored two more runs in the sixth, on a sacrifice fly from Loftin and RBI single from Robbie Glendinning, the second baseman’s third hit of the day.

Beyond Glendinning’s three hits, Tyler Gentry, Jake Means and Sebastian Rivero each had two hits, while Bradley drew three walks and Matias walked twice.

Northwest Arkansas will try to keep the momentum going into Thursday’s game, as Jonathan Bowlan make his return to Double-A and will start for the Naturals with a 7:05 p.m. CT first pitch from Wichita.