Big First Inning From Arkansas Dooms Drillers

A three-run home run from Robbie Widlansky in the bottom of the first inning helped stake the Arkansas Travelers to a four-run lead, a deficit the Tulsa Drillers were unable to overcome Tuesday night in a 7-4 loss on the road.

The Travelers' lead eventually grew to 6-0 before the Tulsa offense began to kick in during the late innings.

Manny Correa picked up the win for the Travelers, scattering six hits over six innings. Tim Gustafson took the loss for the Drillers, while Kevin Johnson got the final two outs to pick up his fifth save of the season.

Jose Gonzalez paced the Drillers at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI.

Arkansas jumped on the board first when Rolando Gomez doubled to start the bottom of the first, moved to third on a single and then stole home to give the Travelers a 1-0 lead. Two batters later, Widlansky blasted his home run to right to open up a 4-0 lead.

Arkansas scored a single run in the third and fourth innings before Tulsa rallied to score two runs in the top of the fifth.

After loading the bases with one out, Delta Clearly rapped a singled to center to score two runs. Clearly was caught stealing during the next at-bat, ending was could have been a big rally for Tulsa.

Arkansas added a run in the bottom of the eighth before Tulsa staged a mini-rally in the top of the ninth that came up short. Four straight hits after an inning-opening ground out loaded the bases and brought a run home. However, an RBI-groundout was all the Drillers could manage the rest of the inning.

The two teams are back in action Wednesday afternoon, with first pitch scheduled for 11 a.m.