Springdale, AR – Naturals RHP Josh Staumont tossed 7.0 no-hit frames to guide Northwest Arkansas to the 5-1 win against the Springfield Cardinals before 3,078 fans at Arvest Ballpark on Wednesday night. The Cardinals are tied with the Tulsa Drillers for 1st place in the North Division Second Half Standings with just 12 games remaining.
The Cardinals (38-20, 73-55) seized the lead right out of the gates in the top of the first against RHP Josh Staumont (W, 2-3). LF Magneuris Sierra led off with a four-pitch walk, followed by CF Oscar Mercado being hit by a pitch. 2B Darren Seferina advanced the runners to second and third with a sacrifice bunt, before RF Adolis Garcia skied an RBI sacrifice fly to center field to bring in Sierra for the 1-0 lead.
The Naturals (23-35, 62-66), though, tied the game right away with a run in the bottom of the first against RHP Pedro Echemendia (L, 1-4). After a one-out walk by 2B Nicky Lopez, 1B Samir Duenez drilled a game-tying RBI double off the left field fence, scoring Lopez from first to square the score, 1-1.
Staumont then dug in and no-hit the Cardinals through his 7.0 innings on the mound, allowing just the one run on five walks while striking out eight batters.
Meanwhile, the Naturals swung out of the 1-1 tie in the bottom of the third inning. Echemendia plunked SS Humberto Arteaga to open the frame, followed by a base hit from Dewees. One out later, Duenez placed an RBI single to shallow right, plating Arteaga and moving Dewees to third. Dewees streaked home next on an RBI groundout from RF Ryan O’Hearn, opening the Naturals lead to 3-1.
Northwest Arkansas further padded the advantage with two tallies against RHP Andrew Morales in the sixth. With one away, consecutive singles from 3B Jack Lopez and DH Anderson Miller set the table. An RBI double from LF Alfredo Escalera and an RBI sacrifice fly by Arteaga then brought in the two runners, respectively, making it 5-1.
Following his seventh hitless stanza, Staumont yielded to LHP Richard Lovelady to begin the top of the eighth. SS Tommy Edman led off the inning with an infield single to break up the Naturals no-hit bid.
Lovelady, however, worked around three singles through two scoreless frames in the eighth and ninth, closing the 5-1 win for Northwest Arkansas.
