SPRINGDALE, Ark. (June 3, 2025)—Aaron Sabato singled in the tying run and scored as the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth of a 2-1 Wichita Wind Surge victory over the Northwest Arkansas Naturals at Arvest Ballpark. On the backs of a quality start by Aaron Rozek and the late rally, Wichita jumps up to sole possession of second place in the Texas League North, a game back of the Springfield Cardinals.
Rozek and Frank Mozzicato didn’t let in any runs as the Wind Surge and Naturals starters. Rozek ended his night throwing a quality start of six innings of five-hit baseball with four strikeouts. Jaylen Nowlin also pitched a scoreless seventh inning of relief as the first man out of the visiting bullpen.
After Wichita stranded the bases loaded and Northwest Arkansas left two in scoring position in the top and bottom of the seventh, Dustin Dickerson laid down a sacrifice bunt right in front of the plate in the home half of the eighth. Javier Vaz ran over to third and later scored on an infield throwing error to give the Naturals a 1-0 lead late in the ballgame.
Sabato singled the opposite way to score Ricardo Olivar and tie the game in the top of the ninth. Amid a later mound visit, Sabato took off toward the empty bag on third and came in to cross the plate on a wild throw from the pitcher for a 2-1 Wind Surge lead.
Cody Laweryson took over for the bottom of the ninth, and then Rubel Cespedes gobbled up a hit off the handle of Justin Johnson with the lead runner heading toward third. The runner took a slight turn past third toward home, and Cespedes turned and threw to Tanner Schobel, who tagged the runner for the final out of the game.
Michael Martinez took the win to improve to 1-2 on the year after giving up an earned run on a hit and a walk with a strikeout in the eighth inning. Laweryson also earned his sixth save of the season.
POSTGAME NOTES
- Wichita turned a franchise-record four double plays in the game.
- Aaron Rozek throws his second quality start of the season for the Wind Surge.
- Wichita wins its second game after trailing through the eighth inning in 2025. (2-17)
- Aaron Sabato is up to a 21 game on base streak while Tanner Schobel is up to a 20 game on base streak.
- The Wind Surge now own sole possession of second place in the Texas League North.