NATURALS RALLY LATE FOR FOURTH STRAIGHT HOME WIN

SPRINGDALE, Ark - Trailing 3-1 in the eighth inning of the series opener against Frisco, the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (22-23) rallied with four runs to defeat the RoughRiders (14-31) by a 5-3 final. The victory gives the Naturals four straight wins at home.
After having a tough time offensively with Frisco starter Pedro Payano throughout much of the game, new life was given to Northwest Arkansas as the RoughRiders made a pitching change to go with reliever Jeffrey Springs (L, 2-1) up 3-1 in the eighth. Corey Toups welcomed the new hurler with a double to start the frame and scored two batters later on a single by Erick Mejia . Nicky Lopez then singled to put runners at the corners before Elier Hernandez tied the game with a RBI double. That would be it for Springs as Frisco turned to closer Reed Garrett with runners at second and third. After an intentional walk to Alex Liddi , Anderson Miller delivered the game-winning, two-run single back up the middle to give the Naturals the 5-3 advantage.

Both teams came into the game winners of seven out of their last 10 ballgames. The RoughRiders looked to be continuing that trend throughout the first seven innings as they scored first in the second on a Juremi Profar homer to take an early 1-0 lead.
This time it was a brief lead though as Liddi led off the home half of the second with a solo home run of his own.
Frisco responded with a run in the third and fourth innings to take the 3-1 lead. Hunter Cole had a RBI double in the third while Michael O'Neill added a sacrifice fly in the fourth after the RoughRiders loaded the bases with three hits.
Payano dealt for the RoughRiders as he gave them 7.0 innings of one-run baseball; however, Naturals starter Scott Blewett kept his team within striking distance as the righty twirled 5.0 innings of three-run baseball giving up six hits and striking out three.
Franco Terrero (W, 2-2) earned his second win out of the bullpen with 3.0 scoreless frames to go along with three strikeouts while closer Jake Newberry (S, 7) was up to the task once again as he delivered a perfect ninth for another save.
The Naturals out-hit the RoughRiders by a nine-to-seven tally as Mejia, Lopez and Miller led the way with two hits apiece.
Northwest Arkansas will continue their series against the Frisco RoughRiders, the Double-A Affiliate of the Texas Rangers, with Game 2 of this 3-game set tomorrow night - Wednesday, May 23 - with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Gates will open at 6:00 p.m. for the first What's It? Wednesday of the 2018 season. The Naturals will give the ball to LHP Emilio Ogando (3-2, 4.98 ERA) while the RoughRiders will counter with LHP Brett Martin (1-4, 7.71 ERA). Catch all of the live play-by-play action with the Voice of the Naturals Benjamin Kelly on AM 1590 - The Ticket 2 starting at 6:45 p.m. for the Indigo Sky Casino Pregame Show.
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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