Cards Swept in Doubleheader
Both pitchers had little trouble through the first three innings, but the Naturals struck first against Hooker in the fourth. Leftfielder Tim Smith led off the inning with a towering homerun, his second of year, onto the roof of the training facility in right field. After a walk to Eric Francis, Hooker struck out Kurt Mertins to get out of the inning with only one run across.
Hooker ran into more trouble in the top of the fifth as Nick Van Stratten singled to start the inning, and after a sacrifice bunt by Anthony Seratelli, moved over to third on a single by Christian Colon. Van Stratten would then score on a wild pitch which also moved Colon to third. Tim Smith brought the runner in from third on a base hit to center. Jeff Bianchi flew out to left to end the inning. After four and a half, the Naturals had a 3-0 lead.
Through the first five innings, the Cardinals only managed one runner past first base as Will Smith cruised. The same could not be said for Deryk Hooker. Salvador Perez led off the sixth with a line drive double into the leftfield corner. He advanced to third on a walk to Kurt Mertins. Then the inning would come to an interesting end, however. Nick Van Stratten hit a swinging bunt towards first base, Cardinals' first baseman Matt Adams charged and came up with the catch but not without colliding into Van Stratten first. While Adams was shaken up on the play, Hooker picked up the ball and threw to third to double up Perez and end the threat. Adams stayed down for a minute before walking off the field on his own.
The Cardinals briefly threatened in the sixth when they had second and third with two outs, but Eric Duncan flew out to left to end the rally with no damage done. Deryk Hooker then gave way to Sam Freeman who pitched one scoreless inning. Will Smith finished what he started with a perfect seventh inning for the complete game shutout, and the Naturals won game one 3-0.
Game two had the Cardinals hoping for a split for the day as Kevin Thomas squared off against Naturals lefty and former Missouri State Bear, Buddy Baumann.
Northwest Arkansas jumped out to another early lead inning in game two. Anthony Seratelli drew a leadoff walk and found himself at third base after two ground outs. With two outs, Mario Lisson hit a sharp liner to Jermaine Curtis at second, but Curtis rushed his throw to first and Matt Adams couldn't handle it as Lisson was safe and Seratelli crossed home to make it 1-0. Kurt Mertins then followed with a ground rule double to right which moved Lisson to third. From there, Thomas got Nick Francis to ground out to short to end the inning.
Springfield would quickly respond in the bottom half of the first as Jose Garcia reached on a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a bunt by Ryan Jackson. Matt Adams then brought Garcia home with his 31st RBI of the season, a single to center, to tie the game after one.
The Cardinals would threaten again in the third, when they loaded the bases with two outs against Baumann. Eric Duncan had a chance to put Springfield back on top, but he flied out to left and Baumann escaped with the game still tied.
Kevin Thomas settled down after the first. Through five innings, all he had against him was three hits and one unearned run. As good as that was, he was matched by Buddy Baumann, who allowed only one hit and one run in four innings, though he did walk five. Baumann was relieved by Harold Mozingo to start the fifth. The Cardinals greeted Mozingo with back to back hits. Ryan Jackson led off with a single and once again it was Matt Adams who collected an RBI with a double into the gap in right centerfield. After five, it was 2-1 Cardinals.
Jose Rada took over for Thomas in the sixth and ran into immediate trouble. Jamie Romak singled and Mario Lisson and Nick Francis each drew walks to load the bases with one out. Rada then gave way to lefty Nick Greenwood. Jeff Bianchi pinch hit for Ben Theriot and hit what could have been an inning ending double play ball up the middle, but Jermaine Curtis tried to glove-flip the ball to Ryan Jackson, but it went over Jackson's head allowing Romak to score to tie the game. From there, the inning spiraled out of control for Springfield as Nick Van Stratten cleared the bases with a grand slam. Ryan Eigsti made it back to back homeruns off Greenwood with one out. Northwest Arkansas would add one more to make it a seven run sixth. After five and a half, the Naturals held an 8-2 advantage.
The Cardinals tried to chip away at the deficit in the bottom half of the sixth as Alex Castellanos, replacing an injured Jose Garcia, launched a one-out, opposite field homer to drive in Nick Derba and cut the Naturals' lead to 8-4. Patrick Keating came in for the seventh and threw a scoreless inning to complete the four-game sweep for Northwest Arkansas.
Springfield will hit the road tomorrow and begin a four-game series with the Arkansas Travelers in Little Rock Monday beginning at 7:10pm at Dickey-Stephens Park. The Cardinals will send right hander Michael Blazek to the mound against lefty Trevor Reckling of the Travelers.
The Cardinals will return home May 25th for a six-game homestand against the Corpus Christi Hooks and San Antonio Missions. Wednesday's game will begin at 7:07pm. Great tickets are still available by visiting the Hammons Field Ticket Office, online at springfieldcardinals.com or by calling (417) 863-2143.
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