SPRINGDALE, Ark. — The Northwest Arkansas Naturals walked off on a wild pitch in the bottom of the 11th inning, taking a 4-3 win against the Springfield Cardinals before 3,721 fans at Arvest Ballpark on Thursday night.
After a pair of scoreless innings apiece from Cardinals RHP Dakota Hudson and Naturals RHP Christian Binford, Northwest Arkansas (10-9) broke through in the bottom of the third inning. With one away, LF Terrance Gore singled himself on, before back-to-back walks from CF Donnie Dewees and RF Alfredo Escalera to load the bases. 1B Samir Duenez bounced an RBI single to right field that brought in Gore, but RF Adolis Garcia threw out Dewees as he tried to score as well on the play. Hudson then got DH Frank Schwindel to line out, closing the inning with the Naturals only ahead by one run, 1-0.
The Cardinals (10-9) wasted no time coming back, tying the game in the top of the fourth. With one down and the bases empty, C Gabriel Lino tattooed a solo shot to left field, squaring the score at 1-1.
Hudson kept the tie intact with scoreless work in the fourth and fifth frames, but the Naturals swung back in front in the bottom of the sixth. Duenez led off with a single, followed by a towering two-run home run by Schwindel, lifting the Naturals into the 3-1 advantage.
The Cardinals, however, refused to go down and battled back in the top of the ninth. A one-out single from Lino, his third hit of the day, started the charge. One out later, with Springfield down to its final out, 3B Jacob Wilson belted a mammoth two-run home run to left field off of RHP Jake Newberry (W, 1-0), tying the game at 3-3.
RHP Daniel Bard kept the tie intact with a scoreless bottom of the ninth, followed by a scoreless 10th inning from RHP Blake McKnight (L, 1-2). However, the Naturals dealt the final blow in the bottom of the 11th. 3B Mauricio Ramos singled to start the inning, before being pinch run for by OF Ruben Sosa. Sosa moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, and then took third when an errant pick off throw from McKnight sailed into center field. McKnight battled back with a strikeout of C Allan de San Miguel for the second out, but with 2B Jack Lopez at-bat, a wild pitch bounced away from Lino and allowed Sosa to score the winning run from third, lifting the Naturals to the 4-3 walk-off win in 11 innings.
