NATURALS SERIES WINNING STREAK STOPPED AT FIVE

SPRINGDALE, Ark - The Naturals' franchise-record series winnings streak was stopped at five as the Midland RockHounds (25-25) defeated Northwest Arkansas (24-26) in the rubber-match on Sunday 6-5 in front of a crowd of 5,734 at Arvest Ballpark.
Both teams came out firing in the first frame of the finale. With a runner on first and two-outs, Eli White lifted a solo home run to left to give Midland the early 2-0 lead. Northwest Arkansas would respond with some two-out offense of their own to produce a run in the home half. Nicky Lopez singled and advanced to second on a walk before scoring on an Alex Liddi single.
The RockHounds would use a three-run third to stretch their lead out to 5-1. Brett Vertigan started the inning with a single and moved to third on a single by J.P. Sportman . After a pop out, White drove in his third run of the game with a sacrifice fly to deep center. Seth Brown and Richie Martin followed with back-to-back RBI doubles to give Midland the four-run advantage.

The visitors would keep the offensive pressure on the Naturals in the fifth as they'd plate another on a Mickey White RBI single.
Northwest Arkansas would get two of those runs back in the bottom of the fifth. Donnie Dewees singled and advanced to third on a hit by Erick Mejia . That setup Elier Hernandez , whom would drive home Dewees with a single to right field. Then with runners at the corners, Hernandez was caught stealing but it allowed Mejia to score from third base to make it a 6-3 game.
The Naturals kept the momentum going into the sixth as they'd cut the deficit to a single run at 6-5. Dewees delivered the key hit in the frame with a two-out, two-run double to the wall in right-center field to plate Corey Toups and John Brontsema . That, however, would be all of the scoring as the Midland bullpen held Northwest Arkansas scoreless through the final 3.0 frames.
Norge Ruiz (W, 3-5) earned the victory for the Hounds after limiting the Naturals to four runs on 11 singles while Nolan Blackwood (S, 5) got the save. For the Naturals, starter Scott Blewett (L, 2-4) took the loss after allowing six runs on eight hits through 7.0 innings of work. Meanwhile, Michael Mariot and Jake Newberry combined for 2.0 scoreless innings out of the pen.
Tonight's game concludes the Naturals current homestand. After an off day on Memorial Day, Northwest Arkansas will hit the road for a six-game trip in Texas for a three-game series in Frisco from Tuesday, May 29 through Thursday, May 31 before traveling to Midland for a three-game series against the RockHounds to open the month of June (1-3). The Naturals will then enjoy an off day on Monday, June 4 before opening up a series at Arvest Ballpark against Springfield on Tuesday, June 5.
The Naturals will send LHP Emilio Ogando (3-2, 5.63 ERA) to the mound on Tuesday night in the series opener against Frisco. Catch all of the live play-by-play action with the Voice of the Naturals Benjamin Kelly on KQSM - 92.1 The Ticket starting at 6:45 p.m. for the Indigo Sky Casino Pregame Show leading up to first pitch at 7:05 p.m. from Dr. Pepper Ballpark in Frisco, Texas.
Follow the Northwest Arkansas Naturals on Facebook and Twitter @NWANaturals all throughout the year by using the hashtag #NaturalPastime and #CrowntoCrown for all of our up-to-date information on the 2018 season of Naturals baseball.
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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