Riders homer thrice, fall to Naturals

FRISCO, Texas (June 8, 2021) – The Frisco RoughRiders fell to the Northwest Arkansas Naturals in the opening game of their six game series 7-6 on Tuesday night from Riders Field.

The Naturals (14-14) Bobby Witt Jr. crushed a solo home run to start the scoring in the first against Cole Winn (2-2), who took the loss for the Riders.

In the second inning, the Riders (18-12) struck back to tie the game on a sacrifice fly by Sherten Apostel, scoring Steele Walker.

The tie game did not last long as Nick Pratto laced a three-run homer in the third to make it 4-1 Naturals.

Northwest Arkansas padded their lead with a solo home run from Brewer Hicklen before Frisco came back with two home runs in the bottom of the fourth. Diosbel Arias lead off the inning with a solo jack and Apostel added a solo shot later in the frame, drawing the Riders to within 5-3.

After a run scored on an error for the Naturals in the top of the fifth, Walker smashed a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth, pulling the Riders back within two at 6-4.

Pratto added a key insurance run for the Naturals in the seventh with an RBI single, but Frisco mounted a comeback.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Apostel singled in a run and Elier Hernandez scored on a wild pitch to bring Frisco within 7-6, but they were turned away by a four-out save by Josh Dye, his fourth save of the year.

Stephen Woods Jr. (1-4) earned the win, throwing five innings for Northwest Arkansas.

The RoughRiders continue their series with Northwest Arkansas with game two on Wednesday, May 9th at 7:05 p.m. LHP Sal Mendez (3-0, 2.33) goes for the Riders against RHP Jon Heasley (1-0, 2.15).

It's Texas Forever Night, featuring a t-shirt giveaway, Texas themes and specialty jerseys, as well as Weiner Wednesday presented by Texas Chili Company. Get your tickets at RidersBaseball.com or call 972.334.1993.

About the RoughRiders

The Frisco RoughRiders are the Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. The team was founded in 2003 and has finished first among all Double-A franchises in attendance in each of the last 15 seasons (2005-2019). In August 2014, the RoughRiders were purchased by an ownership group led by Chuck Greenberg. Since then, the new ownership group, together with the City of Frisco, has spearheaded numerous major franchise enhancements, investing over $8 million in a wide array of facility upgrades and improvements, including a state-of-the-art HD video board, sound system, Bull Moose Saloon, InTouch Grille, Riders Outpost Team Store and the world's largest water feature in a sports facility, the massive Lazy River. These enhancements earned the Riders and the City of Frisco Ballpark Digest's prestigious "Best Ballpark Renovation" award for two consecutive years (2015 and 2016). More than 160 former RoughRiders players have gone on to play Major League Baseball, including current Rangers players Jose Trevino, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Joey Gallo. For more information on the Frisco RoughRiders, please visit RidersBaseball.com or contact [email protected]