NATURALS FIGHT LATE BUT DROP SERIES TO WIND SURGE IN WICHITA

WICHITA, KS – The Northwest Arkansas Naturals fought until the final outs of the ballgame but could not come back Sunday afternoon, dropping the series finale to the Wichita Wind Surge, 5-3.

Wichita scored early in the game, as a wild pitch brought home a run to give the Wind Surge a 1-0 lead in the first inning.

Starting pitcher Andrew Hoffmann settled in after that, throwing 4.1 innings of one-run baseball, with four strikeouts. After Zach Haake threw 2.1 scoreless innings, Nate Webb finished off the seventh inning to keep the score within one run.

Left fielder Tucker Bradley led off the eighth inning with a home run to tie the score at 1-1, his seventh of the season and first since June 5.

The tie game did not last for long, as the Wind Surge scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth to take a 5-1 lead.

Down by four runs, John Rave and CJ Alexander drew walks in the top of the ninth, then Seuly Matias singled Rave home to bring the tying run to the plate. With just one out, Tyler Cropley represented the tying run doubled Alexander across to make the game a two-run deficit.

Northwest Arkansas couldn’t cut into the difference further, despite bringing the go-ahead run to the plate in the 5-3 loss.

In the loss, seven of nine Naturals reached base while Alexander and Nick Loftin both reached base three times, with a pair of hits each and a walk.

Northwest Arkansas returns home next week for a six-game series at Arvest Ballpark against the Tulsa Drillers, beginning Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. CT.