Squires Belts Home Run in Naturals’ Hard-Fought 9-8 Loss to Arkansas

By AJ Swiatek

SPRINGDALE, AR – Brett Squires belted his eighth long ball of the season and brought in three RBI in the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (56-58, 23-22) 9-8 loss against the Arkansas Travelers (57-57, 22-23). The Naturals have Monday off ahead of a six-game series against the Tulsa Drillers that starts on Tuesday. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM that evening at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale, Arkansas.

After both starters worked a scoreless first, the Travelers struck first in the top of the second inning. The five-run effort mounted an early lead for Arkansas, but the Naturals started to chip away in the home half of the frame. Squires led off with his eighth home run of the season and Justin Johnson followed with a single. Javier Vaz singled to push Johnson to third, and Colton Becker grounded into a double play that plated Johnson and made it a 5-2 game.

The Naturals took their first lead with a big fifth inning. Vaz roped a leadoff single; Spencer Nivens knocked a single of his own and Omar Hernandez was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Rudy Martin’s two-run double scored both Vaz and Nivens, and Carson Roccaforte’s RBI single brought in Hernandez. After tying the affair, Gavin Cross reached on a fielder’s choice, and Squires’ two-out single scored Roccaforte and Cross to put the Nats ahead 7-5.

The Travelers pushed one run in to score in the sixth and seventh innings to tie the game. Northwest Arkansas regained the lead in the bottom of the eighth thanks to a Cross double and a Johnson sacrifice fly, but Arkansas plated a run in the top of the ninth to force extra innings in an 8-8 ball game.

Arkansas scored a run in the top of the tenth, and the Naturals stranded runners on the corners in the bottom of the frame. The Arkansas Travelers knocked off the Northwest Arkansas Naturals by a final score of 9-8, but the Nats still took the series, 4-2.

The Naturals have Monday off ahead of a six-game look against the Los Angeles Dodgers Double-A affiliate, the Tulsa Drillers. The series get underway on Tuesday, August 19, and the game’s first pitch at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale, Arkansas, is scheduled for 7:05 PM CT. Fans can follow the action with the “Voice of the Naturals,” Shawn Murnin, on MiLB.TV, MLB.TV, the MiLB and MLB Apps, and nwanaturals.com with a subscription. Free audio is available through the MiLB App and team website, and fans can also stream for free on the Bally Sports Live app.