Tulsa Rallies for Walk-Off Win (2024)

TULSA, OK – The Tulsa Drillers hot stretch continued Wednesday night thanks to a pair of late-inning rallies that produced a 6-5 walk-off win over the Northwest Arkansas Naturals at ONEOK Field. Down a run in both the ninth and tenth innings, a two-out single from Taylor Young sent the game to extra innings. Once again down a run in the tenth, the Drillers drew a bases-loaded walk that tied the game before Austin Beck drove in the winning run with a single to right.

The win was the Drillers third straight and improved their record against the Naturals this season to 8-2. It also moved them to within four games of first-place Springfield in the North Division standings of the Texas League.

BOX SCORE

The starting pitchers were the early story in Wednesday’s game as both teams were held scoreless through the first three innings. Tulsa did not earn a hit off Naturals starter Luinder Avila until the fourth inning, but its first two hits were big.

In the fourth, Young drew a one-out walk, and Dalton Rushing followed with the Drillers first hit. A passed ball advanced the runners to second and third, and Brendon Davis drove them both in with a double that put Tulsa ahead 2-0.

Jared Karros retired the first 12 batters to begin his third start with the Drillers, but a lead-off walk in the fifth inning helped Northwest Arkansas score a run. Following the walk to Gavin Cross, a steal and a single from Luca Tresh gave the Naturals their first run.

Tulsa scored its third run in the sixth inning on Diego Cartaya’s single.

The Naturals answered one inning later to take the lead. After two walks and a double loaded the bases, Tulsa reliever Juan Morillo walked another batter to force home a run. One batter later, Tyler Tolbert hit a sacrifice fly to center field to bring home the inning’s second run that tied the score. On the same play, the throw back into the infield was mishandled, allowing Leonel Valera to break towards home plate and score to give the Naturals a 4-3 lead.

Tulsa rallied to send the game to extra innings when Young drove in Yeiner Fernandez with a clutch, two-out hit in the bottom of the ninth.

The Naturals quickly scored the placed runner in the tenth inning on Peyton Wilson’s lead-off single to retake the lead at 5-4.

With the placed runner at second base in the bottom of the tenth, a single and a walk loaded the bases for the Drillers. Cartaya drew his third walk of the game to force in the tying run and bring Beck to the plate. The outfielder came through with his only hit of the night, a single to right field, to bring home the game-winning run.

INSIDE THE GAME

*Karros was outstanding on Wednesday, tossing 5.1 innings and allowing just one run on two hits and a walk. He also matched a career high by striking out eight batters.

*Ryan Sublette received the win after pitching the ninth and tenth innings.

*Tulsa batters struck out 14 times, just two from matching the season high.

*The rally brought the Drillers to 3-22 when trailing after eighth innings. They are now 2-2 in extra-inning games.

*He waited until late, but Fernandez extended his on-base streak to 34 straight games with his leadoff single in the bottom of the ninth. It is the longest on-base streak in the Texas League this season and the second-longest in all of Minor League Baseball.

*Three of the five Naturals’ runs were scored by batters that reached base on a walk. Northwest Arkansas hitters earned five hits but drew seven walks in the game.

*Young stole his 19th base of the season and is now 19 of 21 in stolen base attempts this season.

UP NEXT:

The Drillers and the Naturals will continue their series on Thursday night at ONEOK Field. First pitch is slated for 7:00 p.m. and the starting pitchers are expected to be:

NWA – RHP William Fleming (0-1, 8.53 ERA)
TUL – LHP Justin Wrobleski (2-2, 3.94 ERA)