Roccaforte Hits 27th Home Run in Naturals’ 7-6 Defeat
SPRINGDALE, AR – Carson Roccaforte hit his 27th home run of the season and Drew Beam spun a quality start, but the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (14-21, 43-59) fell to the Wichita Wind Surge (14-21, 39-63) on Wednesday night at Arvest Ballpark, 7-6. The Naturals continue their six-game set against the
SPRINGDALE, AR – Carson Roccaforte hit his 27th home run of the season and Drew Beam spun a quality start, but the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (14-21, 43-59) fell to the Wichita Wind Surge (14-21, 39-63) on Wednesday night at Arvest Ballpark, 7-6. The Naturals continue their six-game set against the Wind Surge on Thursday, with first pitch at 7:05 PM CT.
Northwest Arkansas struck first in the second inning on a pair of RBI hits. Omar Hernandez drove in Spencer Nivens with a double, followed by Canyon Brown’s run-scoring single to make it 2-0.
Wichita tied the ballgame in the fifth and took its first lead in the sixth, but the Naturals responded in the bottom of the sixth. Luke Pelzer singled to extend his on-base streak to 13 straight contests and Sam Kulasingam drew a walk. Roccaforte connected on a go-ahead, three-run homer to right that gave NWA a 5-3 advantage. Roccaforte hit his team-leading 27th long ball of the season, which gives him sole possession for fourth place on the franchise single-season homer leaderboard. He’s four home runs shy of the Naturals’ single-season record of 31 (Matt Fields, 2013).
Beam exited after dealing six innings of three-run ball for Northwest Arkansas. The right-hander spun his seventh quality start of the season. Kulasingam’s sacrifice fly in the seventh made it 6-3, Nats, but Wichita plated four in the eighth to take a 7-6 lead. NWA put two runners on in the bottom half, but failed to plate a run and fell by that score.
The Naturals face the Wind Surge in the third game of the six-game series on Thursday at 7:05 PM CT. Fans can enjoy $2 drafts, $2 peanuts and $1 small Coca-Cola fountain drinks. Fans can get their tickets at NWANaturals.com for the remainder of the series.
As always, fans can follow along through the Naturals' TV broadcast, available with a subscription to MLB.tv or the MiLB App and for free through the Bally Live Sports App. Additionally, you can listen to the radio call with the "Voice of the Naturals", Shawn Murnin, all season long on the MiLB app and NWANaturals.com.