Sammy Siani’s drive toward right field gave the Arkansas Travelers one last jolt Friday night, turning a quiet ninth inning into a sudden rush of noise at Route 66 Stadium. Boston Smith and Caleb Cali raced home ahead of him, and a game that had spent most of the night slipping away was back within reach.
Siani’s two-out, three-run homer pulled Arkansas within two, and Josh Hood followed with a walk to bring the tying run to the plate. Bill Knight struck out to end it, however, sealing a 5-3 Springfield victory and the Travelers’ sixth consecutive loss.
Arkansas had been shut out on two hits through eight innings and struck out 17 times overall. Yet the final out arrived with the Cardinals forced to reckon with a rally that had barely seemed possible a few batters earlier.
Hunter Fitz-Gerald grounded out to open the ninth before Smith lined a single into center. Josh Caron struck out, and Cali was hit by a pitch. Siani turned on the next offering and sent a line drive over the right-field wall for his seventh home run, extending his hitting streak and accounting for all three Arkansas runs.
Siani finished 1 for 4 with three RBIs. Hood worked a walk after the homer, keeping the crowd engaged and the inning alive until Knight was called out on strikes.
The late resistance could not erase an offense-starved night or the early hole left by Dane Dunning’s abbreviated return from injury. Rainiel Rodriguez supplied Springfield’s first run with a towering first-inning homer that cleared the ballpark in left, his 22nd of the season.
The Cardinals struck again in the second. Won-Bin Cho doubled before Jack Gurevitch drove a two-run homer the opposite way to left-center, stretching the lead to 3-0. Dunning struck out Ryan Campos before departing.
Dunning took the loss after allowing three earned runs over 1⅓ innings, with three strikeouts and no walks.
Lael Lockhart absorbed most of the remaining workload and kept Arkansas within range. He worked 5⅓ innings, striking out five and walking one while allowing one earned run. That run came on Deniel Ortiz’s two-out RBI single in the fifth after Jon Jon Gazdar and Tai Peete had reached earlier in the inning.
Springfield made it 5-0 in the sixth after Gurevitch singled and a pair of errors allowed Ryan Campos to reach while Gurevitch advanced to third. Gazdar’s sacrifice fly brought him home. Adam Smith followed Lockhart and delivered 1⅓ scoreless innings.
Gurevitch finished 3 for 4 with two RBIs and two runs, while Springfield starter Brandon Clarke set the tone for Arkansas’ difficult night at the plate. Clarke allowed one hit and one walk over four scoreless innings and struck out seven. Darlin Saladin and Joseph King kept the shutout intact through the eighth.
Before the game, Boston Smith discussed the challenge of remaining steady through the swings of a full season.
“I think just taking each day for what it is, you know, I’ve experienced the highs of this season and, you know, I’ve also experienced the lows of this year and just, you know, the everyday battle that you fight with your mind and body of just trying to just stay consistent and enjoy it, I think is what’s led me to be consistent throughout the year.”
— Boston Smith, Travelers Catcher and Designated Hitter
Friday supplied another difficult stretch to process. Arkansas finished with four hits and two errors, and Springfield collected its 10th consecutive victory over the Travelers.
Smith’s ninth-inning single at least helped produce a different ending than the first eight innings suggested. Siani made sure the Cardinals had to sweat through it, but the Travelers’ comeback arrived one swing short.