Drillers Beaten in Homestand Finale

The Tulsa Drillers hopes of having a winning homestand ended Monday afternoon with a late offensive outburst from Arkansas. The Travelers overturned a three-run Drillers lead by scoring a combined seven runs in the seventh and eighth innings to post a 7-6 victory at ONEOK Field.
The loss to the Travs was the second straight for the Drillers and gave the two teams a split of their four-game series. Tulsa began the homestand in a similar manner with two wins against Springfield followed by two straight losses to the Cardinals. The pair of splits left Tulsa with a 4-4 record during the eight-game stand.
D.J. Peters got the Drillers off to a quick start in Monday's finale, belting his ninth home run of the season in the bottom of the first inning to give Tulsa a one-run lead.
Another homer in the second inning increased the margin. After Tyler Colvin doubled, catcher Cael Brockmeyer hit a two-out, two-run shot into the Busch Terrace beyond the left field fence to increase the Drillers lead to 3-0.  
It remained that way until the Travelers used a pair of their own homers to tie the game in the top of the seventh. Tyler Pill relieved starter Logan Bawcom and got the final out in the top of the sixth, but the right-hander ran into trouble in the seventh in his Drillers debut. Joey Curletta led off by hitting his seventh homer of the year to get Arkansas on the scoreboard.
Chris Mariscal reached safely on Errol Robinson's error, and Logan Taylor followed with his first Arkansas home run to tie the game at 3-3.
Arkansas was still not finished. After a walk and a single, a bad-hop single deflected off Robinson's glove, allowing the fourth run of the inning to cross the plate and give the Travelers a 4-3 lead.
The Travelers late offensive output continued with three more runs in the eighth off Pill. The big hit in the inning was a two-out, two-run single by Beau Amaral the increased the Arkansas lead to 7-3.
Keibert Ruiz pull the Drillers closer in the eighth inning, when he turned on a high fastball and lined it over the short fence in right field for Tulsa's third home run of the game. The two-run shot cut the Arkansas lead to 7-5.
The Drillers made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth when Brockmeyer singled, moved to second on a ground out and scored on a two-out hit by Luke Reks.   Travs closer Matt Festa recovered to retire Peters on strikes to end the game.
 
WHAT YOU MISSED
Tulsa batters have now hit 68 home runs in the first 43 games of the season. That puts the Drillers on a pace to hit 221 homers for the entire season, a number that would shatter last year's franchise record of 168.  
Bawcom was outstanding in just his second appearance this season for the Drillers. He did not allow a run in 5.2 innings, while surrendering just two hits and two walks. In two starts for Tulsa, Bawcom now has a 0-1 record despite a 1.59 ERA.
Ruiz finished with two hits to extend his current hitting streak to ten straight games. Luke Raley, who has an 11-game streak, did not play in Monday's game.
Pill suffered the loss in his Tulsa debut. The 27-year-old appeared in seven major league games with the New York Mets last year.
*The Drillers made a roster move Monday morning, optioning pitcher Michael Johnson to extended spring training and adding reliever James Carter from Rancho Cucamonga.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Drillers will open a six-game road trip Tuesday night in San Antonio. The trip will include three games against the Missions, followed by three games in Corpus Christi with the Hooks. Starting time for Tuesday's opener will be 7:05 p.m. and the pitching matchup will feature:
TUL      Mitchell White (0-1, 7.36 ERA)
SAN     Lake Bacar (0-1, 3.38 ERA)