Tulsa Drillers Pound Out 14 Hits To Defeat Naturals 6-2

The Tulsa Drillers struck hard early, scoring four runs in the first inning, and cruised to a 6-2 win over the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, Wednesday afternoon.

Cory Riordan picked up the win for the Drillers, his third of the season. NW Arkansas starter Noel Arguelles took the loss to drop to 2-6 this year.

The Drillers pounded out 14 hits, as everyone but first baseman Kiel Roling got in on the action. However, Roling contributed by scoring both times he got on base via a walk.

Josh Rutledge singled to start the first for the Drillers, and came around to score two batters later on Nolan Arenado's sacrifice fly. After a Roling walk, Corey Dickerson triples to score two runs. An RBI single by Kent Matthes scored Dickerson.

The Drillers had runners on second and third with two outs, but Michael Mitchell grounded out to end the inning. Every Tulsa batter came to the plate in that first inning.

NW Arkansas got a run back in the second and another in the third on a sacrifice fly and fielder's choice, respectively.

After giving up four runs on five hits in the first inning, Arguelles settled down, giving up just one run on three hits in his remaining 4.1 innings of work.

Ben Paulsen homered to lead off the bottom of the sixth for Tulsa, and Tim Torres had an RBI single in the seventh for the final margin, which could have been a lot worse, as the Drillers left 10 men on base.

The Naturals collected 11 hits, but left 10 men on base, and went a measly 1-13 with runners in scoring position. The Naturals also grounded into three double plays, two of which ended threats in the fourth and ninth innings.

The Drillers hit the road for eight games against Arkansas and NW Arkansas tomorrow, before coming back home to face Springfield June 22.