Clutch Hits and Bannister's Start Lead Travs to Win in Tulsa

Tulsa, OK-Nathan Bannister pitched shutout baseball for 5.2 innings and the Travelers scored four times on clutch two out to earn a 5-3 win over the Tulsa Drillers on Wednesday afternoon. Arkansas built a 5-0 lead and then hung on as Errol Robinson blasted a late 3-run homer for the Drillers. Beau Amaral and Yonathan Mendoza combined to drive in all of the Travs runs. Bannister's start was his best in five outings with Arkansas and garnered him his second victory of the season. Matt Festa picked up the final four outs for his third save.
Moments That Mattered

• Three straight hits opened the second inning for the Travs and Mendoza's sac fly with one out got them on the board.
• Amaral delivered a two out RBI single off Tulsa lefty starter Devin Smeltzer in the fifth to make it 2-0.
• Two innings later, Braden Bishop and Chuck Taylor walked and advanced on a wild pitch. Amaral then followed with another two out hit, this one scoring a pair to double the lead.
• In the eighth, Yonathan Mendoza capped three straight singles with his second RBI of the afternoon on a base hit to center.

Notable Travs Performances

• RF Beau Amaral: 2-5, 3 RBI
• 3B Seth Mejias-Brean: 2-4, run
• SS Yonathan Mendoza: 1-2, run, BB, SF, 2 RBI
• Nathan Bannister: Win, 5.2 IP, 4 H, 4 BB, 4 K
• Matt Festa: Save, 1.1 IP, K

Up Next
The Travs try to make it two in a row on Thursday night with a 7:05 start in Tulsa. RHP Andrew Moore (1-1, 2.96) gets the start against RH Dennis Santana (0-2, 2.35) for the Drillers. The game will be broadcast on the Sports Animal 920, the First Pitch App, TuneIn radio and milb.tv.