AMARILLO, TX (May 20, 2026) -- The Amarillo Sod Poodles (21-19) fell to the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (20-20), 8-1, on Wednesday night at HODGETOWN. The Amarillo offense went silent following a walk-off win the night before and a strong outing from the opposing starter.
The visitors wasted no time finding their way onto the scoreboard this evening as Carson Roccaforte launched the first pitch of the ballgame over the left field fence for a solo homer to lead things off for the Naturals.
Five consecutive base hits by Northwest Arkansas in the top of the second yielded three runs with Colton Becker, Connor Scott, and Canyon Brown all contributing RBI knocks to give the Naturals an early 4-0 advantage.
Soddies starter Ashton Izzi had a bounce back inning, inducing a 5-4-3 double play to end the third without allowing a run.
All eight Soddies had been retired in order leading up to Jean Walters’ plate appearance with two away in the home third. The second baseman took care of business by taking the 1-0 pitch the other way, bouncing one off the top of the right field railing for a solo home run to put the Sod Poodles in the run column.
Despite the rough start, Izzi settled in and fired three scoreless innings in the fourth, fifth, and sixth, keeping the Sod Poodles within striking distance. Amarillo was unable to build any momentum however as Justin Lamkin, the Naturals starter, retired the final 11 batters he faced in a row to bring his night on the hill to a close.
Northwest Arkansas posted another three-run frame in the eighth by way of Roccaforte’s second home run of the night, a runner scoring on a wild pitch, and an RBI double off the bat of Daniel Vazquez to make it 7-1.
Brown added a solo blast for the Naturals in the top of the ninth and the Soddies were held in check in their final turn at-bat, dropping the game Wednesday night that evened the series at one apiece.