Gardner's Confidence Grows in Victory

The Drillers came into the first meeting of a 4-game set with Arkansas on Tuesday night looking to get ahead early and stay ahead. Tulsa had gone the previous 9 games with the opponent scoring first in the ballgame. A four run explosion in the first frame and a brilliant pitching performance by Joe Gardner was exactly what the doctor ordered as the Drillers won their third game in a row by the score of 7-2.

Corey Dickerson provided a spark right out of the gate with a leadoff triple. Ben Paulsen drove him in two batters later with an RBI single to give the Drillers a rare early lead. A single from Kiel Roling advanced the aggressive Paulsen to third, who was able to score on an RBI groundout from Angelys Nina. Mike Zuanich blasted his 5th homer of the season to give the Drillers a 4-0 lead after inning number one.

Tulsa picked up in the second where they left off in the first when Jose Gonzalez doubled to open the frame. The catcher tagged up and reached third on a Dickerson fly ball before scoring on a Jimmy Cesario ground-rule double.

Angelys Nina put Tulsa on the board for the third straight inning with a leadoff homerun in the bottom of the third. The shortstop's 6th homer of the year gave the Drillers a 6-0 lead.

The big lead was more than enough support for Gardner who was razor sharp on the hill. The right-hander retired the first 15 Arkansas hitters he faced, 8 of them via strikeout. His perfect game bid was ruined with an infield dribbler off the bat of Darwin Perez in the top of the sixth inning. Cesario fielded the ball behind second base but was unable to get Perez at first, ending the perfect game and no-hitter.

Gardner walked the first two hitters in the top of the seventh inning before enticing an RBI groundout from Roberto Lopez. The pitch ended the starter's night as he was replaced by Mike Marbry. Marbry allowed an RBI single to Brian Hernandez to make the score 6-2 and close the book on Gardner. Gardner earned his 6th victory of the season with a final pitching line of 6.1 innings, 1 hit, 2 earned runs, 2 walks and 8 strikeouts.

Tulsa put up an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth thanks to a single by Nina that was followed up by an RBI single by Tim Torres.

Mike Solbach came into the ballgame in the ninth to preserve the win for Gardner and the Drillers. Solbach has yet to allow a run in 5 relief appearances for the Drillers this season.

These two teams will battle again on Wednesday night at ONEOK Field with a first pitch scheduled for 7:05PM. The Drillers will send Brandon Hynick (4-3, 2.51 ERA) to the mound to square off against Orangel Arenas (5-9, 5.50 ERA) for Arkansas.