Drillers' Defense Struggles in 9-8 Loss

Tulsa poured in the runs but still couldn't hold off the Naturals.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 12:23 pm

By: News On 6

Originally Published: May 8, 2011 6:21 PM CDT

Grant Belcher
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

SPRINGDALE, Ark. – It’s fairly rare for a team that scores five runs in a single inning to lose a game, but that’s exactly what happened to the Tulsa Drillers on Sunday.

Tulsa scored eight runs, including five in the fifth inning, but still managed to come away with a 9-8 loss on Sunday.

The Drillers trailed 3-1 after four, but two straight batters were hit by pitches to start the fifth inning, followed by a wild pitch to load the bases with no outs.

Singles from Hector Gomez, Scott Beerer and James Cesario drove in a total of five runs in the inning to reverse the fortunes and take a 6-3 lead.

But it took just one inning for the Naturals to respond with a five-run inning of their own. They took an 8-6 lead after the sixth.

Tulsa wasn’t finished yet as Beerer homered to left field in the seventh, and Lars Davis singled to bring in another run and tie the game.

Northwest Arkansas, however, would score the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth, avenging a loss to Tulsa previous inning.

Patrick Keating got the win for the Naturals and Dustin Molleken was credited with the loss for Tulsa.

Beerer had three hits, two runs and two RBIs for the Drillers.

The teams will face each other again on Monday at 7 p.m.