Naturals Take Opener of Last Regular Season Series

Travs held to six hits in the loss

Chris Mariscal had two hits and a run batted in in the loss. (Mark Wagner)

September 1, 2018

Springdale, AR-The Arkansas Travelers dropped the opening game of the final series of the regular season to the NW Arkansas Naturals, 8-1 on Saturday night. The Naturals scored six times from the second through fourth innings to get control of the game. Meanwhile the Travs were scuffling for offense being

Springdale, AR-The Arkansas Travelers dropped the opening game of the final series of the regular season to the NW Arkansas Naturals, 8-1 on Saturday night. The Naturals scored six times from the second through fourth innings to get control of the game. Meanwhile the Travs were scuffling for offense being held to just three hits over the first seven innings before denting the scoreboard in the eighth. Naturals starter Jon Perrin struck out seven over 5.2 innings to earn the win before three relievers closed it out. Anthony Misiewicz was tagged with the loss for the Travs.
Moments That Mattered
* Samir Dueñez lobbed a single down the right field line to score a pair with two out in the third, extending the Naturals lead to three.
* The first three hitters reached in the bottom of the fourth on a walk, single and double to score one run before two sacrifice flies plated two more and doubled the lead to six.
Notable Travs Performances
* 3B Chris Mariscal: 2-3, SF, RBI
* Wyatt Mills: 2 IP, 2 H, 3 K
Up Next
The middle game of the series is set for Sunday night at 6:05. Right-hander Chris Mazza (1-0, 1.35) gets the start against righty Scott Blewett (8-6, 4.89). The game will be broadcast on the Sports Animal 920, the First Pitch App, TuneIn radio and milb.tv.