NATURALS SWEEP SERIES IN NORTH LITTLE ROCK
NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - For the first time since 2010, the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (21-11) swept the Arkansas Travelers (18-13) at Dickey-Stephens Park four games to none. The Naturals completed the sweep on Tuesday afternoon with an 8-3 win over the Travelers.
The offense came to life in the fifth inning off Arkansas starter Kyle McGowin (3-2, 6.82) using three straight extra base hits including a one-out double by Hunter Dozier who scored on Alex Liddi's sixth two-bagger of the season to cut into the Travelers lead, 2-1. Santiago Nessy added an RBI triple to plate Liddi with Nessy scoring two batters later on Ethan Chapman's RBI double to give the Naturals a 3-2 lead.
Balbino Fuenmayor and Mike Bianucci hit back-to-back home runs in the sixth inning, the third time this season that feat has been done. The Naturals added two more runs in the seventh and one more in the ninth to cruise to the 8-3 win.
Starter Brandon Finnegan struck out four batters in his limited 2.1 innings of work and turned it over to right-hander Matt Murray (3-0, 6.00) Murray worked 3.1 frames en route to winning his third game of the season. Left-hander Sam Selman took over with two on and two out in the sixth inning and struck out the final batter looking to end the Travelers threat.
Selman went on to strike out a season-high five batters in 2.1 innings while Aroni Nina polished off the win with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Naturals pitching staff struck out a season-high 15 batters while the Naturals offense recorded double-digit hits for the 11th time in the last 17 games.
Northwest Arkansas will enjoy and off-day tomorrow as they prepare for 17 home games in 18 days beginning with a four-game series against the Springfield Cardinals on Thursday, May 14 at Arvest Ballpark with a 7:05 p.m. first pitch. Starters have yet to be announced.
Follow the Northwest Arkansas Naturals on Twitter @nwanaturals throughout the year by using the hashtag #NaturalPastime for all of our up-to-date information on tickets, groups, promotions, and team-related information.
The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are the Double-A Texas League Affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. The Naturals play at state-of-the-art Arvest Ballpark in Springdale, Ark. For more information including statistics, ticket options, and more, please visit NWANaturals.com, and follow us on Twitter @NWANaturals and Facebook.com/Naturals.
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