Tulsa Rallies In Late Innings To Grab Road Win Over NW Arkansas

The Tulsa Drillers rallied on the road Friday night, taking down Northwest Arkansas, 5-4.

The Drillers trailed 4-2 at the beginning of the seventh inning, but scored a run in the seventh and two more in the eighth to grab the victory.

Parker Frazier picked up the win in three innings of relief for starter Tim Gustafson. Steven Hensley picked up his first save of the season, striking out two of the three batters he faced in the ninth inning. Sam Runion took the loss for blowing the lead in the eighth inning.

The Naturals jumped on top early, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first inning. The first came on a wild pitch by Gustafson that scored Brett Eibner from third. Orlando Calixte scored later in the inning on a fielder's choice by Mitch Canham.

Tulsa answered with a run in the top of the second on a solo home run from Kyle Parker, but the Naturals answered in the bottom of the frame when Angel Franco scored on another wild pitch from Gustafson.

In the top of the fourth, Tulsa's Dustin Garneau knocked an RBI single to score Kiel Roling. Once again, the Naturals had an answer, scoring a run on an RBI groundout from Manuel Pina.

The Tulsa rally began in the top of the seventh with a solo homer from Garneau. Then, in the top of the eighth, Roling delivered the go-ahead runs with a two-run homer.

The two teams are back at it Saturday night at 7 p.m. CST.