Sunday
11May2008
Arkansas Travelers Defeat the Tulsa Drillers 9-5 to Split Four-Game Series
Sunday, May 11, 2008 at 05:54PM MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com – May 10, 2008 - On a chilly and windy evening in front of 5,531 fans at Drillers Stadium, the Arkansas Travelers bested the Tulsa Drillers 9-5. The Travs victory gave the two teams a split of their four-game series.
Scoring for the game began in the second inning for both squads. Arkansas scored two runs in the top of the inning as recent call up Drew Toussaint singled in Nate Sutton and Adam Morrissey. Morrissey had started the inning with a double and Sutton had reached on a fielder's choice.
The Drillers quickly answered back with three runs in the bottom of the inning. Right fielder Daniel Carte had a sacrifice fly to right field that scored third baseman Tony Blanco. Blanco had reached base on an error by Morrissey. DH Jeff Nelson then crushed a two-run homer over the right center field fence giving Tulsa the 3-2 lead. The blast cleared Yale Avenue.
Arkansas tied the game in the third on consecutive doubles by Michael Collins and Ben Johnson.
It remained 3-3 until the Travs broke things open with a five-run sixth inning. Toussaint singled in his third run of the game, and Hainley Statia followed with a bases loaded triple that gave Arkansas a 7-3 lead. A final run was added on a very strange play that included a pair of Drillers errors. With Statia at third, Collins hit a grounder to Chris Nelson at short. Nelson threw home to trap Statia in a rundown. After Neil Wilson tagged him out, he threw to second base in attempt to get Collins. His throw sailed into center field and then rolled under the glove of centerfielder Dexter Fowler, allowing Collins to circle the bases.
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The Drillers put a rally together in the eighth inning with three straight singles from Blanco, Carte, and Jeff Nelson. Both Blanco and Carte were walked in to cut the lead to 8-5. Fowler made a bid to cut further into the lead, but his liner was grabbed by shortstop Statia who threw to first to double off Wilson to end the threat.
The early-season fielding woes continued for the Drillers as they team matched a season high with five errors in the game.
Tulsa starting pitcher Alan Johnson was tagged for the loss, dropping his record to 1-5. Dan Denham gained the win for the Travs to improve his record to 2-4. Kevin Jepsen picked up his fifth save of the year.
The Drillers will have a day off on Sunday but will be back home Monday night at 7:05 pm as they welcome in the Northwest Arkansas Naturals for a four-game series. Tulsa will start Brandon Hynick (1-2, 5.31 ERA), while the Naturals will counter with Julio Pimentel (2-2, 3.15 ERA).
NOTES: Corey Wimberly was a late scratch from the Tulsa lineup after getting struck in the face by a line drive during batting practice. . . . .The post-game fireworks show was cancelled Saturday due to the high winds. Fans attending the game can exchange their ticket stubs for general admission tickets to any other fireworks game during the remainder of the season.
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