Hunter Fitz-Gerald’s drive kept carrying toward right-center field, a ninth-inning shot that turned a quiet three-run deficit into a one-run game and gave the Arkansas Travelers one last opening Thursday night.
They nearly forced their way through it.
Charlie Pagliarini opened the ninth by lining a double off the left-field wall, and Fitz-Gerald followed with his 28th home run, pulling Arkansas within a run. Sammy Siani walked, and Austin St. Laurent’s two-out single moved him to second before Springfield summoned Michael Watson.
With the tying run in scoring position, Watson struck out Anthony Donofrio to preserve the Cardinals’ 4-3 victory at Route 66 Stadium. Arkansas finished with nine hits but absorbed its fifth consecutive loss.
Fitz-Gerald’s homer, his first in more than a month, extended his hitting streak to 12 games — the longest by a Traveler this season. He went 1-for-4 with two RBIs, delivering the kind of late swing Arkansas had spent much of the night trying to find.
The Travelers had opportunities before the ninth. They also had outs on the bases that kept those chances from becoming rallies.
Arkansas took its only lead in the second after Siani lined a double to left. Josh Hood sent a soft liner into right field, scoring Siani, and hustled into second when Tre Richardson III misplayed the ball. The inning unraveled from there: Hood was erased at third on a fielder’s choice, and Carter Dorighi was caught stealing second.
Springfield answered in the third. Cade McGee doubled, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on Josiah Ragsdale’s two-out ground-ball single through the middle. The Cardinals moved ahead before the inning ended, leaving Arkansas to chase a 2-1 deficit.
Its best chance to pull even came in the fifth. Hood led off with his second hit, and Dorighi followed with a ball that skipped into center for a double. As the play developed behind him, Hood rounded third and was waved home, but Richardson retrieved the ball and the relay from Jesús Báez reached catcher Rainiel Rodriguez in time.
Instead of a tie game with a runner in scoring position, Arkansas had an out at the plate. Tanner Franklin stranded Dorighi and St. Laurent, who walked, by striking out Donofrio and Jonny Farmelo.
Franklin held the Travelers to one run over six innings, striking out eight and walking two. Arkansas did not score again until the ninth.
The Cardinals created the separation they needed against Nico Tellache in the sixth. Deniel Ortiz singled and Jack Gurevitch doubled before Tellache retired McGee for the second out. Richardson then drove a ball deep toward the left-field wall, beyond Donofrio’s leap, for a two-run double and a 4-1 lead.
That ended Tellache’s night after 5⅔ innings. He allowed three earned runs, struck out three and walked one. Lucas Kelly struck out three over 1⅓ scoreless innings, and Teddy McGraw worked a scoreless eighth to keep the deficit within reach.
Hood finished 2-for-4 with Arkansas’ first RBI, while St. Laurent reached three times with two hits and a walk. Pagliarini added his 29th double and a walk.
Farmelo went hitless in four at-bats, though he remained busy in center field. Before the game, he described the adjustment required against Double-A pitching as a matter of learning how each plate appearance changes with the count.
“But I would mainly just say just it’s kind of a chess match of what count you’re in. That’s been the biggest, biggest hurdle for me.”
— Jonny Farmelo, Travelers Center Fielder
Arkansas finally solved the late-game puzzle against Christian Worley, with Pagliarini and Fitz-Gerald supplying the loudest swings of the night. The Travelers brought the tying run within 180 feet, but after a fifth loss in a row, close was where the comeback stopped.