Late-Game Woes Snaps Drillers' Streak

The Tulsa Drillers gave up a led in the final two innings of the game, falling to the Northwest Arkansas Naturals 6-5, snapping their eight-game losing streak in the process.

With the game tied 3-3 in the top of the seventh, Michael Mitchell led off with a double and three at-bats later, Ben Paulsen homered to center field to give Tulsa a 5-3 advantage.

However, the Naturals capitalized on shakiness from the Drillers' pitching staff late in the game to come away with a win. In the bottom of the eighth, a single and back-to-back walks loaded the bases, followed by a balk allowed Rey Navarro to come home from third, cutting the lead to one run.

The Naturals' offense continued in the bottom of the ninth. Nick Van Stratten sent a leadoff single to right field, advanced to second on a wild pitch and reached third by a ground out from Yem Prades.

Two at-bats later, John Whittleman singled to left field to bring Van Stratten home to tie the game and force extras.

Northwest Arkansas strung together a pair of two-out hits in the bottom of the tenth, a double from Carlo Testa and a Julio Rodriguez single from Julio Rodriguez scored Testa ending the game.

Jon Keck (2-0) came away with a win for the outing, giving up two hits in his 2.2 innings of service for the Naturals. Josh Sullivan (0-1) picked up his second blown save of the season as well as a loss, allowing two earned runs on four hits in two innings.

The Drillers will try to get back to their winning ways against the Naturals at 7 p.m. Monday.