SPRINGDALE, AR- The Northwest Arkansas Naturals defeated the Arkansas Travelers 1-0 in a pitcher's duel on Friday night at Arvest Ballpark. The win pushes the Naturals' home record to 26-11 this season.

The Naturals' (39-34) offense broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the sixth inning. Yem Prades reached on a single to left field. He moved to second a sacrifice bunt by Rey Navarro and to third on a ground out by Brian Fletcher. He scored on a wild pitch from Traveler's starter Johnny Hellweg to make it 1-0. Hellweg was attempting to intentionally walk Johnny Whittleman when he threw the ball over the head of catcher Jose Jimenez.

Chris Dwyer (5-6) went seven shutout innings allowing just two hits and striking out seven. The seven strikeouts for Dwyer tied for a season high, that he last set on May 26 against the Frisco RoughRiders. This was the second straight start the left-hander turned in a seven inning performance.

Hellweg (2-7) was nearly as good for the Travlers (28-45) going seven innings allowing two hits and one run, walking three and fanning five.

John Keck worked the eighth inning allowing just one hit, to protect the Naturals' one-run lead. Patrick Keating worked a perfect ninth inning to earn his ninth save of the season. The three Naturals pitchers surrendered just three hits to the Travelers' offense.

The Naturals will continue their four-game series with the Arkansas Travelers tomorrow night at 7:05 PM. Left-hander Noel Arguelles (2-6, 6.28) will take the mound for the Naturals to against the Travelers right-hander Ariel Pena (4-4, 3.16). The game can be heard on ESPN 92.1 The Ticket.