Arkansas clips Springfield 3-1

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The Arkansas Travelers plated three unearned runs to edge the Springfield Cardinals, 3-1, before 7,565 fans at Dickey-Stephens Park on Friday night.

The starting pitchers stole the show, with Cardinals RHP Andrew Morales (L, 2-1) and Travelers RHP Alex Blackford (W, 2-0) dueling back and forth throughout their outings. Morales finished with just two unearned runs allowed on four hits while striking out six in seven innings. However, Blackford countered with five one-hit, scoreless stanzas, striking out eight.

After Morales and Blackford exchanged a pair of scoreless innings to start the contest, Arkansas (7-7) plated two unearned runs in the bottom of the third. With one on and two down, CF Chad Hinshaw reached on a two-base throwing error by SS Breyvic Valera, enabling the inning to continue with two runners on. 3B Alex Yarbrough then brought in both men with a two-run base hit to right field, lifting the Travelers into the 2-0 lead.

After the two unearned runs came in, Morales rattled off 12 straight outs, and retired 13 of his last 14 batters faced, keeping the Cardinals (7-7) close throughout his seven frames.

The Cardinals then broke through against RHP Alan Busenitz in the top of the seventh. With one away, RF Collin Radack rifled the first of his two singles on the night to spark the offense. 3B Paul DeJong followed with a walk, advancing Radack to second with only one down. After a fly out, C Carson Kelly laced an RBI single inside the right field line, bringing in Radack to slice the deficit to only 2-1.

Arkansas, though, added a third unearned run against RHP Joey Donofrio in the bottom of the eighth. With two down and the bases empty, CF Chad Hinshaw singled himself aboard. While Yarbrough was up, Hinshaw took off for second on a steal attempt. Kelly's throw just skipped away from SS Breyvic Valera, with the throwing miscue enabling Hinshaw to take third on the play. Yarbrough then poked an RBI single into shallow right field, plating Hinshaw for the 3-1 lead.

Radack tried to spark the offense again with a one-out base hit in the ninth, but RHP Austin Wood (S, 2) struck out the next two batters to close the 3-1 win for Arkansas.

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