SPRINGFIELD PITCHING STYMIES NATURALS STICKS

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - For the second straight evening, Northwest Arkansas struggled to gain offensive traction against stout Springfield pitching. The Naturals mustard just one run on six hits in the 4-1 loss against the Cardinals on Monday night at Hammons Field. Northwest Arkansas batted just 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
The lone knock with men in scoring position came with two outs in the fifth inning by Nicky Lopez to yield a run for Northwest Arkansas. Alfredo Escalera coaxed a walk against Springfield starter, Dakota Hudson (8-4, 2.69), to open the fifth frame and scored when Lopez laced a two-out double down the leftfield line to cut the Cardinals lead to 2-1.
Northwest Arkansas (50-44/11-13) sent left-hander, Foster Griffin (7-2, 3.14). The 21-year old gutted out 5.0 innings and struck out two batters and suffered his first losing decision since June 4.

The Naturals had a scoring chance in the fourth inning halted by a leaping catch by leftfielder, Oscar Mercado . With a man on second base and one out, Anderson Miller , cracked a long, deep drive to left which Mercado nabbed while scaling the leftfield fence.
Reliever, Richard Lovelady , pitched two innings and allowed a run with a pair of strikeouts and Jake Newberry stayed hot on the hill with a scoreless eighth inning. Newberry owns a 0.82 ERA over his last nine appearances, surrendering just one run over 11.0 innings of relief work.
The series continues on Tuesday night with a 6:30 p.m. first pitch from Hammons Field. Two former first round picks will pitch in the contest with right-hander, Josh Staumont (0-1, 4.91) taking the hill for the Naturals against right-hander, Sandy Alcantara (4-5, 5.45) countering for the Cardinals.
Join the Voice of the Naturals, Benjamin Kelly, tomorrow night, for a 6:10 p.m. pregame show leading up to first pitch on the flagship station of the Naturals, 92.1-FM, the Ticket.
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.
-Naturals-