Owlz take game one from Voyagers
Orem pounds out 15 hits in win
Jessica Allen | Sports writer | @Jessdaleallen
Photo credit: Gabi Campbell | Art Director | @gabicampbellphotos
OREM, Utah—The Orem Owlz continued their winning streak with their fourth consecutive win in a 12-4 victory over the visiting Great Falls Voyagers at Brent Brown Ballpark on Thursday night.
The Owlz collected 15 hits in the game and five players, including Jared Foster and Michael Pierson, had multi-hit games.
“It was a nice win after coming off a three day break after the all star break,” said Owlz Manager Dave Stapleton. “Our offense came out ready to put up a fight and they were ready to play. We put up 5 at the bottom of the first and four more at the bottom of the third. It was a comfortable way to start off the game. Overall I am really pleased with the outcome tonight.”
Jaime Barria picked up the win on the mound for the Owlz(29-16). He pitched 5.0 innings and gave up two runs on five hits. This was his first start for the Owlz.
The Owlz scored five runs in the first inning highlighted by a Brendon Sanger two-run double to take a 5-0 lead. They continued to tack on runs thanks to three consecutive doubles in the bottom of the third inning and an Alex Abbott three-run home run to make the score 9-1.
Ronnie Glenn came on in relief of Austin Young in the sixth inning for the Owlz and worked out of a jam after the Voyagers had already scored two runs to cut the lead to 10-4.
The Owlz hit two more doubles in the bottom of the eighth inning by Kenny Towns and Sanger, making it five total for the Owlz and putting two more runs on the board to put the final tally at 12-4.
Matt Ball took the loss for the Voyagers. He gave up nine runs on eight hits while striking out one and surrendering one walk in 2.2 innings pitched.
The two teams will meet three more times at Brent Brown Ballpark over the weekend. They play on Friday and Saturday evenings and then turn around and play a Sunday afternoon matinee to finish off the four-game series.
“We are now in the 2nd half of the season and the guys are really starting to figure things out,” Stapleton said. “They know we’ve got to keep on doing this everyday. They’ve made good adjustments; they have good chemistry, which is really important. They are now settling in and realize this is a job. All I can expect from them is to come to the ballpark ready to play.”