Drillers Losing Streak Hits Five
North Little Rock, AR – The Arkansas Travelers got a three-run homer from Connor Lien in the second inning and never trailed in defeating the Tulsa Drillers 5-3 Thursday night at Dickey-Stephens Park. The loss was the fifth straight for the Drillers, their longest losing streak of the season. BOXSCORE
North Little Rock, AR – The Arkansas Travelers got a three-run homer from Connor Lien in the second inning and never trailed in defeating the Tulsa Drillers 5-3 Thursday night at Dickey-Stephens Park. The loss was the fifth straight for the Drillers, their longest losing streak of the season.
The early lead for the Travs came after the first two batters in the second inning reached safely on a base hit and a walk. With two runners on base, Tulsa starting pitcher John Rooney recorded two outs and was on the verge of escaping the trouble, but hopes of an escape ended when Lien belted his fourth home run of the season to put the Travs in front 3-0.
Josh Morgan singled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Joe Rizzo in the fifth to increase the margin to four runs.
The Drillers got on the scoreboard in the top of the seventh. Michael Busch led off with a base hit and advanced to third when Donovan Casey followed with a double. A single by Ryan Noda made it three straight hits and plated Busch with Tulsa’s first run of the night. Carlos Rincon brought Casey home with a sacrifice fly to pull the Drillers to within 4-2.
The Travelers immediately got one of the runs back in the bottom half of the seventh when Bobby Honeyman doubled and scored on a base hit from Jake Scheiner.
Tulsa pulled closer in the eighth with help from the Travs. The first three batters in the inning reached safely on a hit by pitch and a pair of walks. Arkansas reliever Collin Kober struck out Noda and Rincon before an error by second baseman Scheiner, on a grounder from Jacob Amaya, gave the Drillers one run. Unfazed, Kober struck out Jeren Kendall to end the threat with the Travelers still holding a two-run lead.
THE HIGHLIGHTS
*Rooney only worked 3.1 innings before departing with an apparent physical issue. The lefthander was charged with three runs on four hits and three walks. He struck out four. The defeat dropped Rooney’s season record to 0-2.
*Third baseman Miguel Vargas made his Drillers debut. Vargas, who was hitting .314 for Class-A Great Lakes, finished 0-4 but scored his first Double-A run after reaching on a hit by a pitch. He was promoted to replace Kody Hoese who was placed on the Injured List on Wednesday.
*Tulsa was limited to just five hits in the game with Rincon responsible for two of them.
*Even with the loss, the Drillers remained just ½ game behind first-place Wichita in the North Division standings. Springfield scored two ninth-inning runs to defeat the Wind Surge 5-3.
*Three times in the game Arkansas batters beat the Drillers defensive shift with opposite-field hits.
*Tulsa pitchers combined for 12 more strikeouts, bringing the staff’s total to 428 on the season, an average of 11.2 per game.
UP NEXT
Tulsa at Arkansas, Friday, June 18 at 7:10 PM at Dickey-Stephens Park. Tulsa RHP Ryan Pepiot (1-0, 1.64 ERA) vs. Arkansas RHP Penn Murfee (2-1, 5.40 ERA).