Late Lead Disappears In Loss to Naturals

May 8, 2021

North Little Rock, AR—The Arkansas Travelers saw a late lead disappear in the final two innings as they fell to the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, 6-3 on Saturday night at Dickey-Stephens Park in front of a crowd of 5,179. Held without a hit for the first five innings by Naturals starter

North Little Rock, AR—The Arkansas Travelers saw a late lead disappear in the final two innings as they fell to the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, 6-3 on Saturday night at Dickey-Stephens Park in front of a crowd of 5,179. Held without a hit for the first five innings by Naturals starter Alec Marsh the Travs finally got on the board in the seventh when Jordan Cowan cleared the bases with a two out double along the left field line. But the lead was short lived as the visitors responded with three runs to tie in the eighth and another three to go ahead in the ninth. Josh Dye was the winner out of the Naturals bullpen working 2.1 shutout innings while Jake Haberer took the loss for the Travs.

Moments That Mattered

* Travs starter Devin Sweet wiggled out of jams in the second and third innings. He struck out three of the final four batters in the second and got a double play with two on to end the third.

* Arkansas loaded the bases with no one out in the seventh. Jake Scheiner reached on an error, Keegan McGovern had an infield hit and Bobby Honeyman walked. After a pair of strikeouts, Cowan came up clutch with his double kicking up chalk on the left field line.

* Northwest Arkansas responded with sustained rallies in the final two innings. The key play in the eighth was when they tied it on a soft single to center by Dennicher Carrasco with two out. Bobby Witt, Jr. raced home from second reaching his hand in to get home plate just ahead of the tag. Witt had beaten out a chopper to third base earlier in the inning for a hit.

Notable Travs Performances

* 2B Jordan Cowan: 1-5, 2B, 3 RBI

* RHP Ryne Inman: 1.1 IP, H, 3 K

* RHP Collin Kober: 2 IP, BB, 3 K

News and Notes

* Travelers pitching struck out 15 but also walked 14.

* Three of the Travs five hits went for extra bases.

Up Next

The Travs tie for a split of the six game series as they host the Naturals again on Sunday afternoon at 2:10. Right-hander Adam Hill makes the start in his season debut against righty Jon Heasley (0-0, 5.40). It is Military Appreciation and Family Sunday and the game will also be broadcast on the Sports Animal 920, the First Pitch App and milb.tv.