Travs Beat Drillers to Force Game 5 Sunday Afternoon at ONEOK Field
TULSA - Looking to book a spot in the Texas League Championship Series with a victory, the Tulsa Drillers were left disappointed Saturday night by a power display from the Arkansas Travelers. The Travs hit three home runs and defeated the Drillers 4-1 at ONEOK Field. The good news for
TULSA - Looking to book a spot in the Texas League Championship Series with a victory, the Tulsa Drillers were left disappointed Saturday night by a power display from the Arkansas Travelers. The Travs hit three home runs and defeated the Drillers 4-1 at ONEOK Field.
The good news for the Drillers is they will have one more opportunity to punch their championship series ticket. The loss to the Travelers evened the best-of-five North Division Playoff Series at two games apiece and forces a winner-take-all Game 5 Sunday afternoon in downtown Tulsa. It will mark the third straight year that the Drillers will play in a division series Game 5. They won the final game the previous two seasons.
The Drillers had won the two previous games in the series to take the upper hand and hoped to carry that momentum into Saturday' matchup. The two teams were scoreless through the first four innings before
The Drillers ended the Travs shutout bid and tied the game in the bottom of the sixth. After a walk and a failed bunt attempt,
Arkansas wasted little time in going back in front.
The third Arkansas homer came in the eighth inning.
It was a case of missed late opportunities for the Drillers. After leaving the bases full in the seventh inning, they stranded two more runners in the eighth and could not capitalize on a leadoff walk in the ninth.
The homers were a welcome change for the Travelers. In the first two games of the series, they had a total of only two extra-base hits.
WHAT YOU MISSED
Curry pitched well for Tulsa despite being tagged with the loss. The right-hander allowed just two runs on five hits, but was undone by the two homers.
Arkansas centerfielder Liberato made two running catches in the right-center gap to take extra-base hits away from the Drillers. On one,
Travs relievers
While Tulsa failed to capitalize on its scoring opportunities, stranding nine runners on base, Arkansas had only two at-bats in the game with runners in scoring position. The Travs were hitless in both and are now 1-24 in the series with runners in scoring position.
Temperature at the start of the game was 93 degrees. All four games have begun with a temperature of 92 degrees or higher.
There will also be a Game 5 in the in the South Division Series on Sunday. After dropping the first two games of the series at home, Amarillo has won two in a row in Midland to force the decisive final game with the RockHounds.
UP NEXT: Game 5 of the North Division Playoff Series
Arkansas at Tulsa, Sunday, September 8, at 1:05 PM at ONEOK FIELD. RHP