Drillers Top Naturals for 87th Win

Tulsa, OK – The Tulsa Drillers recorded win number 87 on Friday night in Northwest Arkansas while also extending their current winning streak to four straight games. Tulsa got a strong start on the mound from Christian Zazueta and a combined four shutout innings from a trio of relievers in a 3-2 win over the Naturals at Arvest Ballpark.

The Drillers have now won nine of their past ten games. They improved their season record to 87-49, nine more wins than any Drillers team has ever recorded in the 49-season history of the franchise.

In Tulsa baseball history, it is the most wins since the 1968 Triple-A Oilers won 95 games. It is also the most victories in all of Minor League Baseball this season.

BOXSCORE

The Drillers twice fell behind early in the game. The Naturals opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning after Sam Kulasingam led off with and double Spencer Nivens followed with a base hit, leaving runners at the corners. With one out, Connor Scott scored Kulasingam with a sacrifice fly.

Griffin Lockwood-Powell got the Drillers on the scoreboard when he hit his eighth Double-A homer of the season in the second inning, tying the score at 1-1.

Northwest Arkansas promptly went back in front 2-1 in the bottom of the second when Angel Acosta hit his first Double-A home run.

A two-run top of the fourth put the Drillers in front. Kole Myers was hit by a pitch to open the inning before a one-out single from Jake Gelof moved him to third base. After Lockwood-Powell went down on strikes, Elijah Hainline drew a walk to extend the inning and load the bases.

It was the first of three straight walks as Sean McLain and Jose Izarra each drew free passes, forcing home a pair of runs that put Tulsa ahead 3-2.

After Acosta’s home run in the second inning, Zazueta retired ten of the next eleven batters and did not allow another hit before departing after five innings.

Christian Suarez took over for Zazueta to open the sixth inning and worked a scoreless frame.

Ryan Fox followed Suarez to the mound, and in his first relief outing of the season, the lefthander worked two shutout innings with four of the six outs he recorded coming on strikeouts.

Kelvin Ramirez handled the bottom of the ninth, retiring the Naturals in order with two strikeouts.

GAME NOTES

*Lockwood-Powell’s homer was the 195th this season for the Drillers, just one short of matching the franchise record of 196 hit by the 2022 squad.

*Gelof’s fourth-inning single extended his hitting streak to six straight games. He has also hit safely in 17 of his last 18 games. He did not homer, keeping him tied for the modern era Tulsa professional baseball record for homers in a season. Gelof’s 33 home runs has him tied with Tim Wheeler who also hit 33 in the 2011 season.

*McLain singled in the ninth inning to extend his own hitting streak to ten straight games.

*Zazueta improved his Double-A record to 4-2 with the victory. He was charged with the two runs on four hits and one walk with four strikeouts.

*For Ramirez, it was his seventh save of the season.

*Agustin Acosta started in left field for the Drillers and finished 0-3 in his Double-A debut. He filled the spot on the active roster left vacant by Josue De Paula’s promotion to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

*De Paula made his major league debut on Friday and finished 0-3 with a walk for the Dodgers in their win over the Miami Marlins. De Paula hit the ball sharply in each of his three at-bats, flying out to right field, lining out to left and grounding out to first.

UP NEXT

The Drillers will meet the Naturals again on Saturday night in their next-to-last game of the 2026 regular season. Starting time is set for 6:05 p.m. and the starting pitchers are expected to be:

Tulsa – RHP Patrick Copen (8-7, 6.22 ERA)
Northwest Arkansas – RHP Felix Arronde (6-6, 6.13 ERA)