Frisco Falls to Naturals in Back-and-Forth Contest
September 17, 2022 – Texas League (TL) – Frisco RoughRiders News Release
SPRINGDALE, Arkansas – The Frisco RoughRiders took the lead early, but eventually lost to the Northwest Arkansas Naturals 7-5 on Saturday night from Arvest Ballpark. In the second-to-last game of the regular season, Frainyer Chavez led the offense with three hits.
The Riders will take on the San Antonio Missions for the first game of the Division Championship Series on Tuesday, September 20th at 6:35 p.m.
Frisco (37-30, 73-63) scored first in the second inning, plating a pair of runs against Northwest Arkansas (27-41, 58-78) starter Anthony Veneziano (6-9), who earned the win. David Garcia doubled in Trevor Hauver for the first run before Frainyer Chavez added on with an RBI single to make it 2-0.
A run came home for the Naturals in the second on a double play, but the Riders increased their lead back to two after Hauver lifted a sacrifice fly in the fourth.
In the bottom of the fourth, Angelo Castellano ripped a two-run double for the Naturals to tie the game at 3-3, but Frisco volleyed back again in the top of the fifth. Aaron Zavala gave the Riders the lead with a sacrifice fly before Thomas Saggese reached on an error, allowing Evan Carter to score, pushing the advantage to 5-3.
The lead did not last long because Northwest Arkansas shortstop Jeison Guzman tied the game with a two-run home run and Tyler Cropley singled in the go-ahead run off of Riders reliever Josh Smith (4-1).
The Naturals tacked on their final run of the night in the eighth on an RBI single from Tyler Gentry to make it 7-5.
In the loss, Riders infielder Jonathan Ornelas picked up his 155th hit of the season, putting him two back of the franchise record for the most hits in a single season (157 hits, Joaquin Arias, 2005) with one game to go.
The RoughRiders and Naturals complete the regular season on Sunday, September 17th at 2:05 p.m. The Riders have yet to announce a starter.
For tickets and more information about the Frisco RoughRiders, visit RidersBaseball.com or call 972.731.9200.
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