Arkansas Offense Too Much For Drillers Late

The Tulsa Drillers were unable to hold on to a two-run lead Thursday, falling to the Arkansas Travelers 3-2, opening the eight-game home stand with a loss.

The Drillers jumped out to an early lead, thanks to back-to-back home runs from Kent Matthes and Kiel Roling in the bottom of the second inning to take a 2-0 lead.

The game remained quiet for four innings, until a few pitching miscues allowed the Travelers back into the contest. After a leadoff single, a wild pitch and a ground out put Adam Heether on third base with just one out of the board. Alberto Rosario grounded out to short stop, allowing Heether to score and cut the lead to one run.

Three at-bats later with a runner on second, Rian Kiniry doubled to right field to bring Darwin Perez home and Jean Segura followed with a double of his own to bring Kiniry across the plate to take the lead.

The doubles ended the night for Tulsa starter Dan Houston (4-3), who would receive a loss for his outing, giving up three earned runs on seven hits in 6.2 innings of service. John Hellweg (1-2) received a win for his work, giving up two earned runs on six hits and striking out five in his six innings pitched.

Tulsa will try to start a new win streak at 7:05 p.m. Friday in the third game of the four-game home series.