NORTH LITTLE ROCK – The Arkansas Travelers entered the ninth inning with the Midland RockHounds with the score knotted 4-4, but the final score looked more like the Travs had been blown out. The RockHounds exploded for five hits and five runs in the top of the ninth, capped by Michael Affronti’s towering three-run home run that put Midland on top of the Travelers 9-4 on Thursday at Dickey-Stephens Park, a fourth-straight loss for the Travs.

The RockHounds (5-2, 42-35) scored all five runs off reliever David Herndon (L, 2-6), who walked the first hitter he faced and allowed five hits while only getting one out. A Chris Carter singled moved Nick Cardenas to second base, and after a strikeout, Herndon gave up back-to-back RBI singles to right field to Josh Donaldson and Matt Spencer. Then Affronti did the rest of the damage with one big swing. Two more runners reached before Marco Albano came on and recorded the final two outs, but the Travs couldn’t answer in the bottom of the ninth.

“Leadoff walks. You can say that he left some pitches up, a hit-and-run blooper, but the leadoff walk started all that. Strike one’s important, and getting the first guy out is important,” Arkansas manager Bobby Magallanes said.

The Travelers (2-5, 30-47) allowed Midland’s leadoff batter to reach in four of the nine innings, and poor control allowed for both of the RockHound’s big innings. Midland scored three runs in the third inning off Arkansas starter Jordan Walden, with Archie Gilbert getting a one-out single, Josh Horton reaching on a wild pitch when he struck out swinging, and Gilbert eventually scoring on Walden’s second wild pitch of the inning. Cardenas drew a walk before that, and Horton and Cardenas scored on an Alex Valdez two-out, two-RBI single.

Walden gave up the other run when he allowed three hits in the sixth, allowing Spencer to score on a Horton two-out single. Walden finished with 5.2 innings pitched and four runs allowed on eight hits and three walks, striking out five without factoring into the decision. Amalio Diaz pitched 2.1 innings of two-hit relief, striking out four of the nine batters he faced.

Batesville, Ark., native Daniel Haigwood started strong on the mound for Midland, scattering four hits in the first five innings he pitched. Three of those came in the third inning, with Flint Wipke doubling and scoring on a Coby Smith single. But Smith was caught stealing at second, and after Haigwood gave up a single to Peter Bourjos, Bourjos was caught stealing too. Mark Trumbo tripled to left-center in the fourth but was stranded at third. But Haigwood walked Smith and Bourjos to lead off the sixth inning and hit Hainley Statia to load the bases with no outs, and Hank Conger pulled a grounder through the left side of the infield that drove in two runs.

Haigwood finished with five innings pitched, five hits and four runs, with two walks and two strikeouts, giving up three runs in the sixth on just one Arkansas hit. Jon Hunton (BS, 3) relieved Haigwood but walked Trumbo to load the bases again and hit Branden Florence, allowing Statia to walk home, tying the game 4-4. But Wil Ortiz, Jay Caligiuri and Flint Wipke went down in order to end the inning with the bases loaded. Steve Sharpe (W, 1-0) tossed two no-hit innings to shut down the Traveler offense while Midland put up a crooked number in the ninth.

A crowd of 5,447 showed up for the first game of the six-game homestand, a long 3:23 affair. Lefthander Trevor Reckling (4-2, 2.55 ERA) will try to turn things around for the Travs with a start tomorrow against Midland’s Jason Fernandez (6-6, 4.64).

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