Tulsa Has Big First Inning In Win Against Arkansas

The Tulsa Drillers got hot out of the gate with four first-inning runs and never looked back en route to a 7-2 victory against Arkansas on Tuesday night.

Ben Paulsen got the scoring started for the Drillers in the opening inning when he connected on an RBI single to center field, driving in Corey Dickerson for a 1-0 lead. Then Angelys Nina grounded out to the shortstop, who threw him out at first but Paulsen was still able to score to give Tulsa a 2-0 lead.

Then Tulsa piled it on when Mike Zuanich connected on a two-run homer over the center field wall to give the Drillers a 4-0 lead.

Tulsa extended its lead to 5-0 in the second inning when Jimmy Cesario hit a ground-rule double on a fly ball to right field, scoring Jose Gonzalez on the play.

In the third inning, Nina hit a solo home run to left field for a 6-0 advantage.

Arkansas didn't score until the seventh inning when it managed two runs but Tulsa added a run of its own on a Tim Torres RBI single in the eighth to put the game away.

Tulsa starter Joe Gardner had an excellent outing, allowing just one hit and striking out eight in 6.1 innings on the mound.

The two teams meet again at 7:05 p.m. on Wednesday at ONEOK Field.