Drillers Survive Sloppy Game in Springdale

July 14, 2014 - Texas League (TL) Tulsa Drillers The Tulsa Drillers took the second game of a four-game series with the Northwest Arkansas Naturals at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale Monday night by a final score of 6-4.

The contest was not the cleanest, as it saw five errors (two for Tulsa, three for Northwest Arkansa), three wild pitches (all from Tulsa), a balk and an ejection.

The Drillers got off to a great start, thanks in part due to a defensive miscue from Northwest Arkansas. Delta Cleary Jr. led off the game and reached base on a fielding error by Naturals first baseman Max Ramirez. The speedy Cleary Jr. proceeded to steal second and moved to third on a single by Christhian Adames.

In the next at-bat, Taylor Featherston catapulted his team-leading 24th double over the head of left fielder Justin Trapp to clear the bases and put Tulsa up 2-0.

Still at 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth, an interesting play occurred. Micah Gibbs reached first after Will Swanner was charged with a missed catch error. Tulsa manager Kevin Riggs adamantly disagreed with the call, however, and was ejected after arguing with first base umpire Clay Park.

The Drillers extended their lead to 3-0 in the top of the fifth, but missed an opportunity to put more runs on the board. After Adames led off with a single, Featherston tripled to right field to easily score Adames. However, Andy Ferguson would get Brian Humphries to ground out and then struck out the next two batters to strand Featherston at third.

The Naturals responded by manufacturing a run in the home half of the fifth. Ethan Chapman reached on an infield bunt single, moved to second on a sac bunt and scored on Orlando Calixte's base knock.

The teams would again exchange blows by each scoring one run in the seventh inning. Delta Cleary Jr. led off the top of the seventh with his second home run of the season.

For Northwest Arkansas, Chapman again used his speed to produce a run. After another infield single, Chapman stole second and scored on Angel Franco's ensuing hit back up the middle.

For the third time in the game, the two teams would again score one apiece in the same inning, this time in the eighth inning. One of Tulsa's new additions, Will Swanner, led off the top of the eighth with a double after a high chopper defected off of the outstretched glove of Calixte and allowed Swanner to take an extra base.

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Drillers Survive Sloppy Game in Springdale