Springdale, AR – On a big Friday night in the Texas League North Division Championship Series, the Springfield Cardinals rallied from behind for a 12-11 win in the conclusion of the rain-suspended Game 2, before the Northwest Arkansas Naturals responded with an 8-3 win in Game 3 before 2,477 fans at Arvest Ballpark.
The Naturals lead the best-of-five game series, 2-games-to-1, with Game 4 at 2:05pm on Saturday in Northwest Arkansas. Catch all of the action on Saturday live on Jock 98.7FM and SpringfieldCardinals.com, starting with the Coyote's Sports Cafe Pregame Show at 1:55pm.
NDCS Game 2 (resumed from 9/8): Cardinals 12 vs. Naturals 11
The rain-suspended game from Thursday at Hammons Field picked back up at 5:30pm on Friday at Arvest Ballpark with the Northwest Arkansas Naturals leading, 8-7, and one on with one down in the top of the seventh. Springfield RHP Rowan Wick (W, 1-0) entered the game to resume action and worked the Cardinals out of a scoreless top of the seventh, before adding a scoreless eighth inning to keep it just a one-run game.
The Cardinals, still playing as the home team despite finishing the game in Northwest Arkansas, rallied with five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. C Luis Cruz sparked the rally with a double, before giving way to pinch-running OF Blake Drake. RF Allen Staton then tied the game with an RBI single up the middle, bringing in Drake for the 8-8 tie. After LF Vaughn Bryan was hit by a pitch, CF Harrison Bader moved the runners to second and third with a sacrifice bunt. The Naturals intentionally walked DH Bruce Caldwell, loading the bases for 1B Luke Voit. Voit came through with a go-ahead RBI single inside the third base line, scoring Staton for the 9-8 lead. RHP Aroni Nina battled back with a strikeout, but uncorked a wild pitch that brought home Bryan. 2B Jacob Wilson was then hit by a pitch to reload the bases, followed by a two-run single to left field from SS Alex Mejia, opening the lead to 12-8.
RHP Josh Lucas took over in the top of the ninth to slam the door, but the Naturals refused to go down easily. Three straight singles from DH Samir Duenez, C Cam Gallagher and SS Humberto Arteaga loaded the bases with no outs. Lucas responded with a strikeout, but lost 2B Corey Toups to an RBI walk, forcing in a run and keeping the bases full. After another strikeout, 3B Mauricio Ramos laced a two-run single that brought the Naturals within one run and led to RHP Dakota Hudson taking over on the mound. With the potential tying run at second base and two down, Hudson induced a game-ending groundout and the Cardinals claimed the wild 12-11 win to even the series, 1-game-to-1.
Click here for the complete box score from Game 2 of the NDCS.
NDCS Game 3: Naturals 8 vs. Cardinals 3 |
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| Both sides exchanged a scoreless stanza to start Game 3 of the series, which got underway at 7:17pm on Friday night. The Naturals, though, cracked the scoreless tie in the bottom of the second inning against RHP Matt Pearce. Leading off the inning, DH Samir Duenez pulled a solo home run to right field, opening the 1-0 lead for Northwest Arkansas.
The Cardinals responded with their own long-ball in the top of the fourth inning against RHP Ashton Goudeau. CF Harrison Bader led off the inning with a double, before trotting home on a towering two-run home run from 1B Luke Voit, catapulting the Cardinals into the 2-1 lead. The Naturals, however, evened it right back in the bottom of the fourth. After a double and an error started the stanza with two runners on, Duenez knocked an RBI single to bring home LF Ryan O'Hearn for the 2-2 tie. Northwest Arkansas took the lead on a 2B Corey Toups solo home run in the fifth, before opening the advantage with a four-run rally in the sixth. Facing LHP Chandler Hawkins, C Cam Gallagher started the sixth with a walk, followed by a base hit from SS Humberto Arteaga. An RBI single from RF Logan Moon brought home Gallagher and chased Hawkins, with RHP Ronnie Shaban taking over. Shaban struck out Toups, but lost CF Alfredo Escalera to a single to load the bases. After another strikeout, an RBI walk drawn by O'Hearn forced in a run, followed by two runs scoring on a base hit by 1B Frank Schwindel to make it a 7-2 lead for the Naturals. Northwest Arkansas added an unearned run in the bottom of the eighth, before the Cardinals attempted a rally in the top of the ninth. Facing RHP Miguel Almonte, DH Bruce Caldwell worked a one-out walk. One out later, 2B Jacob Wilson pelted an RBI double off the left field fence, bringing in Caldwell to shave the deficit back to five runs. However, Almonte dug in with a strikeout to close the 8-3 win for the Naturals and lift Northwest Arkansas back into the series lead, 2-games-to-1. Click here for the complete box score from Game 3 of the NDCS. |
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