After getting their first series win of the season by taking five out of six at Northwest Arkansas, the Sod Poodles had a chance to get out of their series at the Arkansas Travelers with a series split Sunday afternoon. However, they suffered their second shutout of the series, as they fell 2-0 and ended up losing four of six in the series.
The Sod Poodles (23-28) had won five of six at Northwest Arkansas in the previous series, so they ended the road trip with a 7-5 record. They’ll try to score their first home series win of the season when they return home for a six-game series at Hodgetown against the Tulsa Drillers, with the first game starting at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday.
If there was an MVP in the series for the Soddies, it was probably right-hander Billy Corcoran, who had two impressive starts. Corcoran deserved better than the no-decision he got Sunday, when he threw six shutout innings and gave up only two hits.
In the series opener Tuesday, Corcoran got the Sod Poodles off on the right foot, giving up only one hit and one run to earn a 2-1 victory.
However, the game was scoreless Sunday when Corcoran was relieved by Kyle Amendt, who was called up from Hillsboro a day earlier. Ben Williamson led off with a single for Arkansas, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by Ben Ramirez to make it 1-0. For good measure, Jake Anchia hit an insurance home run to make it 2-0.
The Sod Poodles got two runners on base with two outs in the eighth but couldn’t cash in, and they went down 1-2-3 in the top of the ninth.
Overall, the series was an offensive struggle for the Soddies. The most runs they scored in one game was in Saturday’s 4-2 victory, as they took a 3-0 lead in the second, sparked by J.J. D’Orazio’s two-run double. That was enough to support starter Yilber Diaz, who threw five innings of one-hit, one-run ball for the victory.
Pitching was fairly solid for six days, though. In only one game, Thursday’s 8-3 loss, did the Sod Poodles give up more than five runs.