Tulsa Claims Series in Walk-Off Fashion

In a game that saw a little bit of everything, it was only appropriate that the final play involved extra innings, a Drillers pitcher pinch-hitting and a third Arkansas error, resulting in a walk-off victory. But at the end of the night, it was the Drillers who celebrated as they defeated the Travelers 5-4 in front of over 5,000 fans Thursday night at ONEOK Field.

The Travs jumped on the board right off the bat as shortstop Sherman Johnson sent the second pitch he saw from Tulsa starter Scott Barlow out of the ballpark and onto Elgin Avenue for a mammoth home run.

But the Drillers responded in the home half of the frame. With one out and Willie Calhoun at first, Kyle Farmer hit a ground ball to the third baseman that looked as if it could be a potential double play. But third baseman Andrew Daniel threw the ball away as he attempted to force Calhoun at second, moving him to third.

That opened up the floodgates as Lars Anderson and Jacob Scavuzzo followed with RBI base hits to put the Drillers in front 2-1. Several batters later, Arkansas starter Blayne Weller capped off the inning with a wild pitch that allowed Anderson to score from third, putting Tulsa up 3-1.

After both teams wasted scoring opportunities in the second, the action got going again in the third.

Johnson continued to be a thorn in Barlow's side as the leadoff batter worked a walk to get things started before Chad Hinshaw brought him home with an RBI triple. Travs second baseman Alex Yarbrough then stepped to the plate and lofted a sacrifice fly to right, knotting the score at 3-3.

Barlow settled down from there to end the inning without any more baserunners as he retired the next two Arkansas batters to keep the score tied.

In the bottom of the third, the Travs proved to again be their own worst enemy. After giving up back-to-back base knocks to Scavuzzo and Tyler Ogle with one out, Weller looked as if he might escape the jam by striking out Erisbel Arruebarrena for the second out of the inning. But the inning was extended when Johnson could not cleanly handle a grounder off the bat of Yadir Drake to load the bases. Weller then hit Drew Maggi with a pitch to force in a run, putting the Drillers back in front 4-3.

The Drillers had multiple scoring opportunities over the next several innings, but were unable to push across any more runs.

That would come back to bite Tulsa as Hinshaw delivered for Arkansas yet again in the eighth. Facing reliever Dale Thayer with one out, Hinshaw blasted his first home run of the year over the center field wall to pull the Travs even yet again.

Arkansas threatened yet again in the ninth against Thayer as they put men on first and third with two outs. But Thayer was able to escape the inning by getting the pesky Johnson to ground out to end the threat.

The game went into extras after the Drillers went quietly in the home half of the ninth, and the tenth inning produced no scoring chances for either side.

Ralston Cash relieved Thayer to start the tenth and was solid as he struck out four batters over his two innings of work to swing momentum back to Tulsa.

Batting in the bottom of the eleventh, Maggi sparked the Drillers with a leadoff single and was moved into scoring position after Brandon Trinkwon bunted him over. Then some strategy came into play due to an unusual lineup change that happened in the ninth.

Both teams began the game with a designated hitter, but the Drillers were forced to give up their DH due to an injury to catcher Kyle Farmer. After taking a foul tip in the top of the eighth, Farmer was not able to return in the ninth, forcing manager Ryan Garko to move Ogle from his DH spot to behind the plate. That meant that the Drillers pitchers now had to bat in the lineup, leading back to the eventful eleventh inning.

With Maggi on second and one out, the Travs elected to walk the dangerous Calhoun to get to the pitcher's spot in the lineup as they knew Garko had no position players left. Garko decided to pinch hit one of his starting pitchers in Chase De Jong, and the move paid off as De Jong laid down a perfectly placed sacrifice bunt down the third base line. Arkansas reliever, D.J. Johnson fielded the bunt cleanly before wildly throwing to first base. The ball bounced off the outstretched glove of first baseman Cal Towey, allowing Maggi to race home with the winning run.

The victory meant that the Drillers clinched their second series win of the season as they won three of the four games against the Travs.

Cash earned the victory for Tulsa with his relief efforts while Johnson took the loss for Arkansas.

The Drillers will now begin a four game set against the NW Arkansas Naturals, starting Friday night. Getting the start in the opening game of the series for Tulsa will be walk-off hero Chase De Jong (1-3, 4.74 ERA.) NW Arkansas will counter with Alec Mills (1-1, 2.35 ERA.) First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM with another fantastic ONEOK Field Fireworks Show to follow immediately after the game.