Bradford, Offense Shines in Win over Naturals
September 15, 2022 – Texas League (TL) – Frisco RoughRiders News Release
SPRINGDALE, Arkansas – The Frisco RoughRiders bested the Northwest Arkansas Naturals 9-2 on Wednesday night from Arvest Ballpark. Cody Bradford poured in a strong start for Frisco, allowing just one run over his 6.2 innings.
Bradford (10-7) earned the victory for Frisco (36-28, 72-61), striking out six to just one walk in his start. His 10 wins are the most for a RoughRiders pitcher since Connor Sadzek in 2016, who went 10-8 over his 25 games, 23 starts. Joe Corbett pitched 1.1 scoreless innings following Bradford and Josh Smith finished off the night, allowing a single run in the ninth.
On the offensive side, Frisco pounced on Northwest Arkansas (25-40, 56-77) starter T.J. Sikkema (0-5) for four runs in the second inning. David Garcia started the scoring by reaching on a dropped flyball error by Naturals centerfielder John Rave, scoring Thomas Saggese to make it 1-0. Josh Stowers then singled Garcia home before Frainyer Chavez ripped an RBI double and Luisangel Acuna added an RBI single of his own to push the lead to 4-0.
That lead held until the Naturals found the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth inning when Rave doubled in Robbie Glendenning to cut the score to 4-1.
Frisco then countered with a run of their own in the top of the sixth on a Garcia RBI single and popped the game open with four more tallies in the seventh. Evan Carter laced a two-run single up the middle in the seventh, immediately followed by a Saggese two-run triple to balloon the lead to 9-1.
The two-run hit from Carter was his first Double-A hit, while Saggese had two doubles and a triple, going 3-for-4 in his Double-A debut.
The Naturals scored a harmless run in the bottom of the ninth on a Tyler Cropley sacrifice fly, but the Riders held on to win 9-2.
Along with Saggese’s big night, Jonathan Ornelas also collected three hits, giving him 152 on the season. Ornelas is just five hits away from the most hits in a single year by a RoughRiders player (157 by Joaquin Arias in 2005).
While Frisco won, Midland was postponed due to rain, meaning the Frisco magic number to clinch a playoff spot is now just two with four games remaining.
The RoughRiders and Naturals meet for game three of the series on Thursday, September 15th at 7:05 p.m. RHP Seth Nordlin (2-2, 3.25) starts for the Riders against RHP Jon Bowlan (1-3, 7.41) for Northwest Arkansas.
For tickets and more information about the Frisco RoughRiders, visit RidersBaseball.com or call 972.731.9200.
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