NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Interstat) -- Drew Beam pitched eight strong innings to lead the Northwest Arkansas Naturals to a 4-1 victory over the Arkansas Travelers on Thursday at Dickey-Stephens Park.

Beam allowed three hits, one earned run and struck out nine, improving to 9-10. Zachary Cawyer worked a scoreless ninth for his sixth save.

Northwest Arkansas broke a 1-1 tie with two runs in the sixth inning. Daniel Vazquez doubled home Luke Pelzer, then scored on Justin Johnson’s single. Vazquez also had a sacrifice fly in the fourth. The Naturals added an unearned run in the eighth when Johnson reached on a throwing error that scored Sam Kulasingam.

Arkansas got its run in the fourth on Charlie Pagliarini’s solo homer. Travelers starter Nico Tellache took the loss, allowing three earned runs over six innings while striking out eight.

Naturals batters collected six hits; the Travelers managed three. Attendance was 3,329, and the game lasted 2:15. Northwest Arkansas improved to 54-74, while Arkansas fell to 68-61.