Naturals Earn Doubleheader Sweep of Cardinals
SPRINGDALE, ARK- The Northwest Arkansas Naturals used the combination of strong pitching and hot bats as they recorded 8-1 and 3-2 victories in a sweep of the Springfield Cardinals on Thursday night. Tonight was the third doubleheader sweep of the Cardinals in franchise history.
Game 1: Naturals 8, Cardinals 1
The Naturals scored three runs in the first inning to take control of the game. Matt Fields hit his 15th home run of the season, a two-run shot to center field to give the Naturals a 2-0 lead. Yem Prades scored later in the inning on a Rey Navarro single.
Springfield got on the board in the fourth as James Ramsey scored on a Ruben Gotay groundout. Ramsey went two-for-three with a single, triple and run scored for the Cardinals.
The Naturals erupted for five runs in the fourth inning, all coming with two outs. Roman Hernandez scored on an Orlando Calixte single to give the Naturals a 5-1 lead. Calixte and Whit Merrifield scored on a Matt Fields single, with Fields advancing to second base on the throw. A wild pitch from Cardinals reliever Travis Miller plated Brian Fletcher, with Fields scoring on a Springfield error.
Fields, Prades, Navarro and Merrifield each had two hits as the Naturals pounded out 12 hits against two Cardinal pitchers. All but two Naturals starters recorded a hit.
Sugar Ray Marimon earns his third win of the season. Marimon allowed one run on five hits with one walk and a season-high eight strikeouts. Marimon threw his second straight complete game in a doubleheader start as the right-hander fired six innings in a 1-0 loss to San Antonio in game two of a doubleheader on May 26.
Tim Cooney is charged with his fourth loss of the season. Cooney allowed seven runs on 11 hits with one walk and four strikeouts.
Game 2: Naturals 3, Cardinals 2
The Naturals scored three third inning runs and relied on another strong outing from starting pitcher Aaron Brooks to complete the doubleheader sweep of the Cardinals.
Following a two-out single from Whit Merrifield, Brett Eibner tripled to right field, scoring Merrifield and giving the Naturals a 1-0 lead. Orlando Calixte followed Eibner with his second home run of the season, hitting a long drive that landed on the top row of the Bullpen Café in left field.
Springfield got on the board in the fourth as Mike O'Neil scored on a Chris Swauger single. The Cardinals added a run in the ninth as Cody Stanley reached on a Fielder's Choice, advanced to third on a Vance Albitz single and scored on a single from Jake Lemmerman. Zach Jackson stranded the tying run in Albitz at second base as he got Mike O'Neil to ground out to end the game and complete the sweep for Northwest Arkansas.
Brooks earns his second Double-A win in as many starts. Brooks allowed one run on seven hits with no walks and three strikeouts. Jackson picks up his fourth save of the season, allowing one run on three hits in an inning.
Jonathan Cornelius is charged with his first loss of the season. Cornelius allowed three runs on four hits with two walks and two strikeouts in 4.1 innings.
The Naturals and Cardinals will play a single game tomorrow at 7 p.m. Brooks Pounders (1-4, 4.94 ERA) will start for the Naturals. Seth Blair (3-6, 5.46) is scheduled to go for the Cardinals.