By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor
The Arkansas Travelers don’t schedule doubleheaders anymore, but they are sure going to play a bunch this season.
Thanks to the recent storms, Arkansas’ two playing dates prior to Friday featured doubleheaders at Northwest Arkansas on April 22 and at home against Tulsa on Wednesday.
The Travelers split both twin bills against their Texas League North Division foes and, because of the postponements, are looking at doubleheaders against th same two teams in May.
At Arkansas’ former home, Ray Winder Field in Little Rock, Saturday night doubleheaders were a staple of the team’s schedule. Since moving into modern Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock in 2007, the Travelers no longer have doubleheaders on their schedule and only play them now when forced to make up postponed games.
Against Tulsa on Wednesday, Arkansas put together a four-run fourth and went on to win the first game 7-2.
Leadoff man and Los Angeles Angels top prospect Mike Trout was 3 for 4 with two doubles, a triple, and two runs and Luis Jimenez was 2 for 3 with two RBI singles.
Trout, the center fielder, was Los Angeles’ No. 1 draft pick, 25th overall in 2009, and is getting his first Class AA experience this year.
Shortstop Adam Younger also tripled for Arkansas and Orlando Mercado and Angel Castillo also had RBI hits, with Mercado adding a sacrifice fly.
With the run support Travelers starter Garrett Richards cruised through six innings to get the victory, with his only bump in the road a two-run home run by Tim Wheeler in the second inning.
Tulsa starter Christian Friedrich took the loss.
In the second game, four Travelers pitchers combined to strike out 13 Drillers, but a pair of throwing errors by reliever Daniel Sattler allowed Tulsa to score its only run and take a 1-0 victory.
Sattler came on to start the fifth and with one out hit right fielder Mike Daniel, then committed a two-base throwing error trying to pick him off first.
Warren Schaeffer walked, then got caught in a rundown but avoided the tag getting back to first and Daniel scored on what was officially scored as a steal of home.
Right-hander Steven Geltz pitched the final two innings and struck out five while allowing only Darin Holcomb’s double in the sixth.
Tulsa also used four pitchers, who combined to strike out eight in the final four innings and hold Arkansas to three hits, one of them Castillo’s infield single that ricocheted off reliever Stephen Dodson.
With the weather clearing, Arkansas concluded the Tulsa series Thursday and then played host to Northwest Arkansas, the defending league champion, in a four-game series beginning Friday.
Monday’s rainout will be made up in a doubleheader May 12. The rainouts at Northwest Arkansas will be made up May 23.
In all, the Travelers were rained out four times in five days.
Under clear skies on Thursday, the Drillers wrapped up the rain-shortened series with a 10-8 victory at “Bark in the Park” night.
Arkansas staked starter Trevor Reckling to a 3-0 lead but the left-hander couldn’t hold it as the Drillers pulled out to a 9-3 lead, then had to survive a four-run Arkansas seventh featuring Jimenez’s three-run double.
Northwest Arkansas, which beat Midland for last year’s championship, was making its first trip to North Little Rock on Friday night.
