NATURALS EVEN SERIES BEHIND LOVVORN

SPRINGDALE, Ark - After losing back-to-back games for the first time since April 29 and 30, Northwest Arkansas was looking for a stopper and they found one in starter Zach Lovvorn (W, 3-2). Behind his great outing, the Naturals (24-25) win 6-1 over Midland (24-25) on Saturday to even the series and now they'll go for six straight series victories in the finale on Sunday night.
Lovvorn, celebrated his 24^th birthday in style tonight as he was sensational on the mound for the Naturals. The Alabama native turned in his best outing of 2018 as he dominated through 7.0 complete innings against the Hounds by limiting their offense to an unearned run on three hits while striking out five. The win improves the right-hander to 3-1 in five starts at Arvest Ballpark.
After Lovvorn exited up 5-1 in the seventh, Mike Rojas called upon the hard-throwing right-hander Franco Terrero out of the Naturals bullpen. The RockHounds didn't have much of a shot as Terrero struck out two in 2.0 scoreless to end the game.

The game was 0-0 through the first two and a half frames before Northwest Arkansas got on the board. Corey Toups led off the bottom of the third with a single and then advanced to third on a single by Donnie Dewees . Erick Mejia would follow with a single through the hole at shortstop to plate the first run of the game. Heady base-running provided the second run as Dewees scored all the way from second base when the RockHounds tried to complete a double-play on a Nicky Lopez grounder. To complete the three-run inning, Elier Hernandez came through with a two-out, RBI double to left field for the early 3-0 lead.
Midland would respond with a run in the top of the fourth. Tyler Ramirez scored on a Seth Brown RBI single but the Naturals would regain their three-run lead at 4-1 with another tally in the home half as Alex Liddi scored on a safety squeeze by Toups.
The lead for Northwest Arkansas would extent to 5-1 as Anderson Miller drove in Hernandez with a run-scoring single. Then in the eighth, the same duo would complete the scoring with Miller doubling home Hernandez to set the final score at 6-1.
The Naturals out-hit the RockHounds on the night by a 12-to-5 margin. Miller had a perfect night at the plate by going 4-for-4 with two runs batted in while Hernandez went 3-for-4 with two doubles to up his team-high total to 15 on the season.
Northwest Arkansas will continue their Memorial Day weekend series against the Midland RockHounds, the Double-A Affiliate of the Oakland Athletics, with the series finale tomorrow night - Sunday, May 27 - with a special Sunday start time of 6:35 p.m. Gates will open at 5:30 p.m. for the Memorial Day Weekend Post-Game Fireworks on Kids Eat FREE Family Sunday presented by Mini Babybel Cheese.  RHP Scott Blewett (2-3, 5.52 ERA) toes the rubber for the Naturals while the RockHounds will counter with RHP Norge Ruiz (2-5, 5.06 ERA). 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 6:15 p.m. for the Indigo Sky Casino Pregame Show leading up to first pitch against Midland.
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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