Travs Use Trio of Late Homers to Beat Drillers

TULSA, OK - The Arkansas Travelers broke open a tie game Thursday night by hitting three, two-run homers in the top of the seventh inning and defeated the Tulsa Drillers 8-2 at ONEOK Field. The loss came in the opening game of a three-game homestand for the Drillers and dropped their season record to 7-7.
Tulsa starting pitcher J.D. Martin, who was stellar through the game's first six innings, was the victim of the Arkansas power display. The three homers not only won the game for the first-place Travelers, they also vastly improved their season offensive numbers. The Travs entered the game with just eight home runs on the season and a Texas League low .207 team batting average.
With the loss, the Drillers record at ONEOK Field this season fell to 4-4, including a 1-4 mark against Arkansas.
WHAT YOU MISSED
Tulsa took an initial lead in the game with the first run of the night in the bottom of the second inning. Keibert Ruiz singled and scored when Logan Landon doubled just inside the third base bag. After the Travs struck for two runs in the top of the third, the Drillers tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the inning as Zach McKinstry doubled and scored on a base hit by Omar Estevez.
The Travs three, two-run homers in the seventh came from Logan Taylor, former Bishop Kelley High School and Oklahoma State Cowboy infielder Donnie Walton and Dom Thompson-Williams. It was the first home runs of the season for both Taylor and Walton. It was the third of the year for Thompson-Williams, with all three coming at ONEOK Field.
Martin, who was making his third start of the year, had limited the Travelers to just five hits and two runs through the game's first six innings.

Each team finished with nine hits in the game.
Tulsa was led offensively by Estevez, Ruiz and DJ Peters who each had two hits.
Reliever Nolan Long held the Travs scoreless over the final 2.1 innings.
UP NEXT: Arkansas at Tulsa, Friday, April 12, 7:05 PM at ONEOK Field. RHP Darren McCaughen (0-0, 0.00 ERA) versus Mitchell White (0-0, 0.00 ERA).