NATURALS STAY HOT WITH WALK-OFF WIN IN EXTRAS

SPRINGDALE, Ark - With one swing, Nicky Lopez delivered a walk-off win in extras for Northwest Arkansas (23-23) over the Frisco RoughRiders (14-32) while also propelling the 2018 Naturals into the record books. The 7-6 victory secures the fifth straight series win, which breaks the record of four straight that was set twice by the 2010 Texas League Championship Team.
After Naturals' reliever Michael Mariot (W, 1-0) worked around runners at first and third with no outs in the top of the tenth, Northwest Arkansas wasted no time in securing the victory. Erick Mejia started the inning at second base and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Then with two strikes, Lopez crushed a ground rule double to right-center field and the celebration began.
The game was a wild one throughout as it took over three and a half hours to finish the tilt at Arvest Ballpark on Wednesday night. Each team collected 15 hits in the game, used four pitchers and it ultimately took an extra inning to finish it off.

Frisco scored twice in the first on a Michael O'Neill leadoff homer and a Juremi Profar RBI single before Northwest Arkansas tied it up in the home half with a couple of runs in a frame that was highlighted by a run-scoring double by Alex Liddi .
The RoughRiders tacked on two more in the second and another in the third. In the second, O'Neill continued his big night by homering for a second time, this one a two-run shot. Then in the third, Michael De Leon contributed a RBI single to go up 5-2.
The Naturals cut it to 6-3 in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Luis Villegas then 6-4 in the fifth on an Elier Hernandez RBI double.
Northwest Arkansas would continue to chip away with a run in the seventh then they'd ultimately tie the game at 6-6 with a tally in the eighth. Jecksson Flores had a RBI triple in the seventh while Liddi brought home Mejia with a sac fly in the eighth.
Lopez had a huge night offensively as the Naturals' designated hitter went 4-for-5 with two runs scored and the game-winning RBI. The lineup as a whole was great though as Mejia and Liddi had two-hit games while Hernandez collected three on the night. For the opposition, O'Neill led the way by going 4-for-6 with two home runs, a double and three RBI.
Lefty Emilio Ogando got the start for Northwest Arkansas and only lasted through 4.0 complete innings as he gave up six runs, five earned, on nine hits. Picking up their teammate out of the bullpen was Yunior Marte , Walker Sheller and Mariot. The trio combined to toss 6.0 scoreless innings to close out the victory where they scattered six hits while striking out nine.
Northwest Arkansas will look for the series sweep of the Frisco RoughRiders, the Double-A Affiliate of the Texas Rangers, in the series finale tomorrow night - Thursday, May 24 - with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Gates will open at 6:00 p.m. for a Thirsty Thursday presented by Crain Buick GMC of Springdale. The Naturals will turn to RHP Andres Machado (0-2, 1.69 ERA) and he'll be opposed by RHP Richelson Peña (1-3, 3.35 ERA) of the RoughRiders. Catch 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.
-Naturals-