Felix Arronde escaped traffic in each of the first two innings Saturday night, but he could not keep Tulsa from breaking through a third time. A diving try in the outfield came up short, the Drillers kept coming, and a scoreless game became a seven-run hole before the fourth inning was over.
Northwest Arkansas finally found its offense late, scoring twice in both the eighth and ninth, but the comeback never grew beyond a flicker in an 8-4 loss at Arvest Ballpark.
Arronde allowed seven earned runs over four innings, falling to 6-7. He struck out five and walked three, with most of the damage packed into two innings that carried Tulsa out of reach.
The right-hander stranded two runners in the first and worked around Sean McLain’s single in the second. Jose Izarra opened the third with a soft fly-ball single, however, and Mike Sirota singled after Arronde struck out Taylor Young. A walk to Elijah Hainline loaded the bases for Jake Gelof.
Gelof sent a sinking liner into the outfield, where Luke Pelzer charged and went to the ground in an unsuccessful attempt to make a diving catch. Izarra scored, and the bases remained loaded. Kole Myers followed with a sacrifice fly before Frank Rodriguez drove a liner past Spencer Nivens in left and to the wall. Hainline and Gelof scored standing up, completing a four-run inning.
Tulsa did not give Arronde a chance to reset. Joe Vetrano drove the first pitch of the fourth to the opposite field, clearing the wall in left-center for his 13th home run. After two outs, Sirota singled and Hainline launched another ball toward left, sending Nivens back to the track before it landed in Tulsa’s bullpen. The two-run shot, also Hainline’s 13th, made it 7-0.
That was more than enough support for Patrick Copen. The Tulsa starter scattered two hits and two walks over six scoreless innings, striking out six. Northwest Arkansas put two aboard against him in the fourth, but Hyungchan Um lined out to center to end the inning, and Copen retired the Naturals in order in both the fifth and sixth.
The Drillers added their final run against Anthony Simonelli in the fifth, when Rodriguez was hit by a pitch and later scored on Izarra’s single. James McArthur followed with a scoreless sixth, and Frank Mozzicato struck out three over two scoreless innings. Tommy Molsky kept Tulsa off the board in the ninth.
By the time the Naturals stirred, they trailed 8-0. Connor Rasmussen began the eighth-inning push with his first double of the season, driving a sharp fly ball to center. Alberto Rodriguez, who had entered from the bench, singled him home. Sam Kulasingam added another single, and Connor Scott’s soft liner to right brought Rodriguez across.
The Naturals loaded the bases before Jacob Kmatz struck out Canyon Brown, leaving their deficit at six.
The ninth supplied two swings worth carrying forward. Angel Acosta ripped a line drive over the right-field wall for his second home run of the season and his second homer in as many games. After Rasmussen struck out, Rodriguez lifted a drive toward right-center. Izarra retreated to the wall and could only watch as the ball cleared it, trimming the deficit to four.
Rodriguez finished 2-for-2 with two RBIs and two runs after coming off the bench. Justin Johnson added two hits and a walk, helping the Naturals collect nine hits without committing an error.
The late power changed the shape of the final score, but not the game Arronde and the Naturals were forced to chase. Tulsa’s four-run third and three-run fourth had decided that much long before Northwest Arkansas’ bats came alive.