NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The 1st-Half North Division Champion Springfield Cardinals battled back with three runs to tie it in the eighth, but the Arkansas Travelers walked off in the bottom of the ninth for the 5-4 win at Dickey-Stephens Park on Saturday night.
The Cardinals (21-22, 62-51) jumped in front in the top of the first inning against RHP Tyler Carpenter. CF Nick Martini led off the game with a sharp single to left, before Carpenter dug in with back-to-back outs. After 1B Luke Voit extended the inning with a walk, advancing Martini to second, SS Paul DeJong came through with a two-out RBI single up the middle for the 1-0 lead.
The Travelers (22-21, 54-59) worked it even with their first run in the bottom of the first against RHP J.C. Sulbaran. 2B Sean Coyle opened the inning with a single, followed by a bunt base hit from SS Anthony Phillips to put two men on. After a single from 3B Andrew Daniel loaded the bases with no outs, Sulbaran battled back with a strikeout of DH Eric Aguilera. With three on and one down, 1B Alex Yarbrough skied an RBI sacrifice fly just deep enough to left-center field to bring in Coyle and tie the game, 1-1.
After a scoreless second from both sides, the Travs moved in front in the bottom of the third. With one down, Aguilera bounced a tapper back to the mound. Sulbaran gloved it in, but fired high past first base to enable Aguilera to reach safely and get all the way to second. One out later, RF Jabari Henry lined an RBI single to bring home Aguilera and lift the Travs ahead, 2-1.
Arkansas padded the lead with two more in the bottom of the fourth. LF Caleb Adams and CF Bo Way started the stanza with consecutive singles. With Coyle at-bat, Sulbaran misfired an errant pickoff throw past first base, bringing in Adams from third base. Sulbaran got Coyle on a groundout to second, but it advanced Way to second base. He moved to third on a single from Phillips, before darting home on a wild pitch to stretch the Arkansas lead to 4-1.
LHP Justin Wright took over to start the bottom of the sixth for Springfield and promptly dealt two perfect innings to start his outing, keeping Springfield within striking distance.
The bats responded in the top of the eighth, when the Cardinals raced back to tie the game. With RHP D.J. Johnson on the mound, LF Allen Staton started the inning by reaching on an error. C Jesse Jenner followed with a single, his second hit of the night to move Staton to second and chase Johnson from the mound. LHP Kevin Grendell (W, 1-0) took over on the mound and struck out Martini, but lost 2B Jacob Wilson to a walk that loaded the bases with one away. 3B Bruce Caldwell then drove an RBI sacrifice fly to left field, bringing in Staton from third to pull the Cardinals within two runs. With runners at first and second and two away, Voit slugged a towering two-run triple off the center field fence, bringing in both Jenner and Wilson to tie the game at 4-4. With the drive, Voit extended his hitting streak to seven games and his RBI streak to six games.
Wright finished his outing with his third straight perfect inning in the bottom of the eighth, before RHP Ronnie Shaban (L, 6-3) took over to start the bottom of the ninth. With the tie still intact, Shaban retired the frame's first batter, but Coyle followed with a one-out double to right-center field. A groundout moved Coyle to third base, but also recorded the second out of the inning. However, Daniel lined a two-out RBI single to right field, scoring Coyle and lifting the Travelers to the 5-4 walk-off win in the bottom of the ninth.
