SPRINGDALE, Ark. – Wichita had a similar game to last night as they struggled on offense and defense tonight, falling 9-1 in game four of the series.
The Naturals got on the board first in the first inning off an error on Wichita. The Wind Surge tied it back up at one in the top of the third. Aaron Whitefield leadoff the inning with a single to center field. Whitefield then stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error from MJ Melendez trying to catch Whitefield stealing. Roy Morales then hit a sharp line drive down the right field line to score Whitefield and knot the game back at 1.
Northwest Arkansas completely took over the game after that, scoring 8 runs over the next three frames. The Naturals scored four in the bottom of the third that included an MJ Melendez two-run home run. Blake Perkins also had a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth to put the Naturals up 9-1 for good.
Wichita collected just five hits on the night with Roy Morales responsible for two of them.
Jordan Balazovic struggled in his 11th start of the season. Balazovic allowed seven runs (six earned) on six hits and struck out three in 3.1 innings. Chris Nunn pitched two innings of scoreless relief. Nunn allowed just one hit and struck out four.
NOTES
Roy Morales is fourth in league hitting with a .313 average but batting .375 this month and has a hit in 16 of his last 19 games. The Surge have dropped two in a row, but are 6-4 on the roadtrip.