NORTH LITTLE ROCK -- The Arkansas Travelers opened the 2018 season Thursday with a 3-1 victory over the San Antonio Missions at Dickey-Stephens Park.
Travs pitchers struck out 11 Missions and held San Antonio (2-1) to three hits, two of a which did not leave the infield. Arkansas (1-2) notched just five hits, but also drew seven walks from seven different players.
Darin Gillies and Art Warren provided shutdown relief in support of starter Andrew Moore, who took a no-decision for the second straight year on opening night.
Joe DeCarlo reached home on a wild pitch in the fourth inning down, 1-0, with the bases loaded. DeCarlo reached base on a double.
Third baseman Seth Mejias-Brean, on his birthday, drove in the go-ahead run with a two out RBI single. It was the Travs only hit in nine at-bats with a runner in scoring position.
After Austin Allen's second inning homer, no Mission moved past first base. Gillies caught a runner trying to steal to end the top of the sixth and Warren induced a double play to end the game.
Meijas-Brean was 2-for-4 with a triple and an RBI.
Moore pitched 5 2/3 innings and allowed one run on two hits with a walk and seven strikeouts. Gillies (1-0) pitched 2 1/3 innings with one walk and four strikeouts.
Friday night's scheduled game was postponed due to rain. The Travelers rescheduled a pair of seven-inning games for Saturday night.
San Antonio swept Saturday's doubleheader, 6-2 and 5-3. Arkansas led, 1-0, early in both games, but could not hold on to the lead.
Temperatures for the night started at around 40 degrees and dropped to 35 by the conclusion.
Josh Naylor hit a pair of two-run home runs for the Missions in the opener. He added two more hits, including a double and three RBIs in game two.
The Travelers stranded nine men on base in each game.
In game one, Braden Bishop opened the game with a leadoff home run. Naylor's two homers came in the fifth and seventh innings to create late breathing room for the Missions.
In game two, Arkansas had the tying run thrown out at the plate by San Antonio centerfielder Austin Bousfield for the second out of the sixth inning. Bousfield then made a sliding catch on a flare to shallow center by the next batter to prevent the tying and go-ahead runs from scoring.
The Travelers put up a pair in the bottom of the seventh after three hits and a throwing error by the Missions. With the winning run at the plate, Dario Pizzano struck out and Joey Curletta flied out to end the game.
Left fielder and designated hitter Chuck Taylor was 5-for-8 on the day with two walks and one run. Shortstop Yonathan Mendoza was 1-for-2 with a walk, a run and an RBI.
Anthony Misiewicz (0-1) pitched five innings, allowing two runs on six hits with three strikeouts and a walk in the 5-3 loss.
Arkansas welcomed in the Corpus Christi Hooks for a three game set on Sunday. The second game is scheduled for tonight at 7:10 p.m. at Dickey-Stephens.
The final game of the series is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Tuesday. The Travs will travel to Texas over the next week for a three-game series at San Antonio and another three games at Corpus Christi.
Sports on 04/09/2018