NORTH LITTLE ROCK, AR -- Steven Zobac was impressive in his return from the injured list, striking out the side in his lone inning of work, but the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (24-34, 53-72) lost in walk-off fashion to the Arkansas Travelers (26-32, 67-60), 6-5 Tuesday night. The two teams continue their series Wednesday at 6:35 PM CT.
Zobac took the mound in the first inning in the series opener, facing the minimum while throwing 14 pitches to get through the frame. The righty struck out all three hitters he faced looking, firing 10 strikes.
Félix Arronde followed, tossing a scoreless second before the Travs tagged him for three runs in the third. The game stayed 3-0 until the fifth when NWA stormed back to take the lead.
Justin Johnson led off the inning with a single and Alberto Rodriguez was hit by a pitch. Hyungchan Um got a sacrifice bunt down to move each runner up and Luke Pelzer drove Johnson in on an infield single to short, moving Rodriguez to third. The Travelers went to the bullpen and Javier Vaz walked to load the bases before Sam Kulasingam roped a single to right, scoring two runs to tie the game while Vaz took third. Spencer Nivens lifted a sacrifice fly to right, plating a run to give the Naturals their first lead of the night.
Um extended NWA's lead in the top of the eighth after Connor Scott reached on a single and went to second thanks to a ground ball. Um returned to the plate and blasted a triple to right, scoring Scott and giving the Naturals a 5-3 lead.
The Nats held onto the lead until the bottom of the ninth, when Jared Sundstrom doubled off Augusto Mendieta and scored on Jonny Farmelo's single to right to make it a one-run game. With two outs, Charlie Pagliarini doubled to left, scoring two runs to give the Travelers a walk-off win.
The loss resulted in the Naturals' 32nd blown save of the season, extending what was already a team record. The previous high was 28, a number that was attained in 2014 and, more recently, 2024.
The Naturals and Travelers continue their series, the final road trip of the 2026 season for NWA, on Wednesday at 6:35 PM CT. Fans can catch all the action with the "Voice of the Naturals", Shawn Murnin, for free with the team's radio broadcast at www.NWANaturals.com and the MiLB App.