Ash Leads Travs to 5-3 Win Over Drillers

North Little Rock, AR--The Arkansas Travelers took the final game of the series against the Tulsa Drillers on Friday by a score of 5-3 behind a strong performance from starter Brett Ash in front of a crowd of 9,594 at Dickey-Stephens Park.
Ash gave up 7 hits and recorded one strikeout but went deep into the game as he lasted 7 innings until the Travelers went to the bullpen. Austin Kubitza and Blake Perry came in relief to finish the game only allowing one hit over the last two innings.
The Travelers got the offense started early after falling behind 1-0 in the first inning. They scored a pair of runs with two outs in the bottom of the second, Kyle Petty and Keury De La Cruz both singled and after a Jeff Kobernus walk they came around to score thanks to a Nelson Ward line drive to left field.
The Travs added three insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a 5-1 lead. They got things going with a one out double by Joey Wong and then a Tyler Marlette single scored Wong. Dario Pizzano singled to move Marlette into scoring position.    Two batters later, De La Cruz hit a line drive to score Marlette and Pizzano.
The four run lead was threatened in the top of the 6^th inning, when the Tulsa Drillers plated two runs on a Jose Miguel Fernandez single but a double play ended the inning. It would be the first of three straight innings that the Travs turned a key double play.
The bullpen was able to keep the Drillers in check the last six outs of the game. Blake Perry stranded the bases loaded in the eighth and then pitched a scoreless ninth for his second save with Brett Ash recording his 4^th win of the year.
Keury De La Cruz was the hot man for the Travelers going 2-3 with a walk 2 RBIs. Dario Pizzano also had two hits and Nelson Ward drove in two.
The Arkansas Travelers hit the road to Springdale, Arkansas to start a four game series against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. The first game is set for Saturday night at 6:35. Right-hander Tyler Herb (4-2, 3.78) goes for the Travs against righty Ashton Goudeau (2-5, 4.79) for the Naturals. The game will also be broadcast on the Sports Animal 920, the First Pitch App, TuneIn radio and milb.tv.