NORTHWEST ARKANSAS COMPLETES SWEEP OF MIDLAND

SPRINGDALE, Ark - The Northwest Arkansas Naturals (25-23) completed the three (3) game sweep of the Midland RockHounds in front of a crowd of 5,541 on Sunday night at Arvest Ballpark. With the 10-6 win over the RockHounds, the Naturals pull even with the Springfield Cardinals due to their loss to San Antonio and now sit in a first place tie in the Texas League North Division.
After Midland jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first, Northwest Arkansas exploded for five runs in the third frame. Ruben Sosa, Jr. got the inning started with a one out walk and stole second base before Parker Morin worked a walk of his own. The next two batters, Jack Lopez and Elier Hernandez , each collected run-scoring singles to give the Naturals a 2-1 lead. With runners on first and second base, Samir Dueñez broke out of a recent homerless drought as he jumped on a 1-0 offering for a towering three-run home run over the wall in right to give Northwest Arkansas a 5-1 advantage.

The lead remained 5-1 until the sixth inning when the Hounds answered with a crooked number of their own as B.J. Boyd , Viosergy Rosa , and Jordan Tarsovich all collected RBIs in the frame to pull the visitors to within a run at 5-4. The Naturals though would respond with another run to extend the lead to 6-4 as Humberto Arteaga drove in Mauricio Ramos with a triple.
The back-and-forth series finale was ultimately decided in the seventh inning. Midland tied the game at 6-6 after Tyler Marincov came up with a clutch two out, two-run single to plate Brett Vertigan and Yairo Muñoz . Locked in a tie game for the first time since 1-1 in the third, Northwest Arkansas reclaimed the lead for good with a four run frame. Ramos drove in two with a single and then Alfredo Escalera and Donnie Dewees, Jr. each contributed RBI knocks to set the final score at 10-6.
RHP Corey Ray got the start for the Naturals and was solid in his 5.0 innings of work as he gave up four runs on seven hits and struck out eight while his counterpart RHP Ben Bracewell gave up five runs in 4.0 innings. Neither pitcher would factor into the decision as RHP Pedro Fernandez (W, 3-2) collected the win and RHP Kyle Friedrichs (L, 1-4) got tagged with the loss in relief.
Following a league-wide OFF day tomorrow - Monday, May 29 - the Naturals will hit the road for six (6) games against some familiar foes from the Texas League South Division. The Naturals will begin the trip in Frisco on Tuesday, May 30 for three (3) games against the RoughRiders (AA Texas Rangers) before traveling to Midland on June 2 for the final three (3) games against the RockHounds (AA Oakland A's). Northwest Arkansas will then return home on Tuesday, June 6 for a stretch of nine (9) games in eight (8) days at Arvest Ballpark that will see them square off against the Springfield Cardinals (AA St. Louis Cardinals) for five (5) games (including a doubleheader on June 7) before taking on the Arkansas Travelers (AA Seattle Mariners) for the final four (4) games. Catch the live play-by-play action Tuesday, May 30 with the Voice of the Naturals Benjamin Kelly on KQSM - 92.1 The Ticket at 6:45 p.m. for the Indigo Sky Casino Pregame Show leading up to first pitch from Dr. Pepper Ballpark in Frisco.
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 Season 10 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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