NATURALS SURGE PAST CARDINALS AND ADVANCE TO DOUBLE-A CENTRAL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals rallied for seven runs across the final two innings to beat the Springfield Cardinals 9-4 in the regular season finale and secure a ticket to the Double-A Central Championship Series next week against the Wichita Wind Surge.

After Springfield’s catcher Iván Herrera homered in the first to give the Cardinals an early 1-0 lead, the Naturals rallied with two outs in the second, putting runners on with a single walk and error that gave way for first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino (MLB Pipeline’s No. 18 Royals’ prospect) to drive in two runs with a single to the opposite field.

After the Cardinals scored runs in the fourth, seventh and eighth innings, Northwest Arkansas’ bats exploded to score seven runs in the seventh and eighth innings on six hits, a walk and a pair of Springfield errors.

Jimmy Govern started the four-run rally in the seventh with a one-out double, scoring on a pair of Cardinals errors moments later. Clay Dungan singled and then Jeison Guzmán (MLB Pipeline’s No. 21 Royals’ prospect) laid down a perfectly placed sac bunt that scored Blake Perkins from third. With two outs, Meibrys Viloria placed a single into center field and scored Dungan and Guzman, pushing the Naturals ahead at the time 6-3.

After Springfield scored once in the top of the eighth, Northwest Arkansas responded with three runs in the bottom half on another two-out rally. Govern singled and Perkins walked, leading to a two-run double off the bat of Dungan, his third hit of the game. Dungan scored on the next pitch as Guzmán ripped a double down the left field line to put the game out of reach for good, the 9-4 score that held to be the final.

After starting Angel Zerpa (MLB Pipeline’s No. 19 Royals’ prospect) struck out four over 3.2 innings, right-hander Nolan Watson took the mound for the second time in the series and fired 3.1 innings of one-run baseball without walking a batter to pick up his second win of the week. Watson totaled 8.1 innings over two relief appearances, allowing just two earned runs with no walks and six strikeouts.

After Daniel Tillo struck out a pair in the eighth, Andres Sotillet closed the door in the ninth with a 1-2-3 frame and induced a fly ball to Perkins in center for the final out of the game.

While the Naturals won, they also needed the Arkansas Travelers and Frisco RoughRiders to lose to pass both in the standings. Earlier in the afternoon, the Wichita Wind Surge beat the Travelers 11-6 to eliminate Arkansas from playoff contention. Moments before the Naturals secured the victory over the Cardinals, the Amarillo Sod Poodles walked off on Frisco, a thrilling 14-11 win in 10 innings at Hodgetown.

With the Frisco loss and Northwest Arkansas win, the Naturals and RoughRiders finished tied for second in the Double-A Central standing at 64-55, but the Naturals won the head-to-head matchup this season, 6 games to 5 to win the tiebreaker and advance to the Championship Series.

Northwest Arkansas will face Wichita next week in a best-of-five series to determine the winner of the Double-A Central. The Naturals will host Games 1 and 2 at Arvest Ballpark at 6:30 p.m. CT Tuesday and Wednesday, before the series shifts to Wichita on Friday for Game 3 and if needed, Games 4 and 5.

Tickets for each game against the Double-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins will be $7 and children 12 and under will receive FREE admission with a paid ticket. All seating is general admission so it will be first come, first served for seats within the seating bowl for both of the home playoff games at Arvest Ballpark.

The trip this year to the Double-A Central Championship Series will mark the first time that the Naturals have made an appearance in the postseason since the 2017 season.