WICHITA – A difficult second inning proved to be the demise of the Wind Surge tonight, falling 14-7 in game three of the series against Northwest Arkansas. Wichita’s lead in the division is now down to a slim 2.5 games above second-place Arkansas.
The Surge seemed to be off to a hot start scoring two runs in the bottom of the first. After Austin Martin was hit by a pitch for the 21st time this season, leading all of double-A baseball in that category, D.J. Burt scored Martin all the way from first with a line drive ball that rolled all the way to the right field corner. Burt managed to speed around second and slide into third safely on the play. In the next at-bat, Roy Morales grounded out to second base to score Burt for his 32nd RBI of the year and give Wichita a two run lead before an out was even recorded.
The game got out of hand for the Wind Surge in the top of the second. The Naturals plated 10 runs on just four hits. Simeon Woods Richardson and Tyler Beck struggled with their command as they walked six batters in the inning. The Naturals big at bat came after Beck walked three straight batters to load the bases for Brewer Hicklen. Hicklen took the first pitch and blasted it over the left center field wall. After the damage was done, Northwest Arkansas had built a comfortable 10-2 lead.
Ernie De La Trinidad cut into the lead with a solo home run to center field for his eighth of the season in the bottom of the second. The Naturals extended their lead to nine runs in the top of the fourth with another home run. Vinnie Pasquantino took the first pitch he saw and crushed it well over the center field wall for a two-run shot. Jermaine Palacios got a run back for Wichita in the bottom half of the fourth with an RBI single to left field that scored Leobaldo Cabrera from second.
After a Pasquantino RBI single propelled the lead back to nine runs, the Wind Surge were determined to not go down without a fight. D.J. Burt led the inning off with a five pitch walk. Roy Morales then singled on a ground ball to right field to put runners at the corners. A couple batters later, Leobaldo Cabrera brought everyone home with a deep three-run shot to left field. Cabrera’s 10th home run of the season trimmed the Naturals lead down to 13-7 to make the game a little closer. Northwest Arkansas tallied one more run in the top of the ninth to take game three by seven runs.
Simeon Woods Richardson flew through the first inning in his second start for Wichita but ran into trouble he could not get out of in the second. Woods Richardson’s final line read 1.2 innings of work allowing six runs on three hits and recording two strikeouts. Tyler Beck pitched a majority of the game, throwing 5.1 innings of relief. Beck gave up six runs on six hits and struck out five on the night.
NOTES
Wichita lead on first place is trimmed to two games. The Surge have dropped four of their last five games.
COMING UP
Wichita will play game four of the series against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals Friday evening. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. from Riverfront Stadium. Wichita will start RHP Jordan Balazovic (4-4, 3.61 ERA) against Northwest Arkansas LHP Austin Cox (4-1, 3.15 ERA). Catch the game at MiLB.TV and Windsurge.com.