NATURALS RALLY FOR THRILLING WIN

SPRINGDALE, Ark - Northwest Arkansas trailed Springfield by a 6-0 score after two and a half innings but the Naturals (2-0) would ultimately rally for a thrilling 8-7 win over the Cardinals (0-2) on Friday night in front of a crowd of 5,076 at Arvest Ballpark. The come-from-behind victory gives the Naturals' franchise their first-ever 2-0 start to a Texas League season.
After falling behind by a 7-1 tally in the fifth on a RBI double by Conner Capel , the Naturals got back into the game with a key two-out, four-run rally. Taylor Featherston got it started with a single before Nick Heath worked a walk. Khalil Lee , the Royals second ranked prospect, roped a two-run triple into the right field corner to cut it to a 7-3 game. Gabriel Cancel then followed with an RBI double of his own before Samir Dueñez capped the four-run inning with a run-scoring single to right-center field.

Northwest Arkansas would eventually tie the game at 7-7 in the home half of the seventh. Lee doubled for his third hit of the game and scored on another Duenez RBI single before Emmanuel Rivera plated him with a single to even the score.
The comeback would be complete in the eighth on some brilliant small ball by the Naturals. Travis Jones worked a lead-off walk then advanced to third on a perfectly executed hit-and-run by Anderson Miller to put runners at the corners with no out. Manager Darryl Kennedy then went with the safety squeeze play and his squad executed it to perfection as Featherston laid down a bunt to the right side of the infield and Jones beat the throw and just slid under the tag of the catcher for the 8-7 lead.
Reliever Walker Sheller (S, 1) worked a perfect ninth for the save after right-hander Grant Gavin (W, 1-0) earned his first win of 2019 after authoring a scoreless eighth. On the other side, Connor Jones (L, 0-1) (BS, 1) took the loss for the visiting Cardinals.
Earlier in the game, Springfield seemingly broke things open with a six-run top of the third. They took advantage of a two-out error by Northwest Arkansas to score six unearned runs in a frame, which was capped by a Grand Slam by Brian O'Keefe .
In the home half, the Naturals would begin to chip away at the deficit. Miller collected a one-out single and then advanced to second on a stolen base before Heath brought him home with a two-out RBI single to make it a 6-1 game at the time.
The Naturals out-hit the Cardinals for the second consecutive game. With eleven hits on Friday, Northwest Arkansas now has 20 hits for the season. Lee led the way with three more knocks while Duenez and Miller each had two hits in the thrilling victory.
Northwest Arkansas will continue their opening 7-game homestand with Game 3 of this 4-game set against the Springfield Cardinals (Double-A St. Louis) tomorrow night - Saturday, April 6 - with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 p.m. Saturday's game is presented by TCBY and features an Arvest Ballpark Calendar Giveaway plus a Bullpen Craft Beer Bar Happy Hour from 4:30 p.m. until 5:30 p.m. Right-hander Gerson Garabito will make his first Double-A start for the Naturals while the Cardinals will counter with left-hander Evan Kruczynski . Catch the live play-by-play action with the Voice of the Naturals Benjamin Kelly on AM 1590 - The Ticket 2 at 5:45 p.m. for the Indigo Sky Casino Pregame Show leading up to first pitch from Arvest Ballpark.
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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