Ogden Clinches Series Win over Jackalopes
PL Grand Junction Jackalopes

Ogden Clinches Series Win over Jackalopes

Published on August 17, 2025 under Pioneer League (PL)
Grand Junction Jackalopes News Release


The Grand Junction Jackalopes took their 20th loss of the second half of the season in a series-clinching 14-8 victory for the Ogden Raptors on Saturday night.

Branden Blankenship made his second professional start, and second start since Tuesday's series opener. Much like in game one, Blankenship didn't appear longer than an inning and gave up the lead in the top of the first, to which the Raptors held and kept adding onto for the rest of the game.

Maddux Hoaglund relieved Blankenship, who gave up three runs on four walks and two hits, only recording two outs in eight batters faced.

Although Hoaglund escaped the first unscathed in the first batter he faced, leaving the bases loaded, he would give up one to three runs in each of his final four frames of work, allowing the leadoff batter on safely three of those four innings.

Chris Sargent hit his 30th home run on the season off of Hoaglund in the second, breaking the Raptors' franchise record for single-season homers set by Reese Alexiades in 2023. He finished his night with three hits, including his second home run of the night in the fifth off of Hoaglund again.

The Jackalopes scored for the first time in the bottom of the second, piecing together three runs, starting with the initial Mason Minzey two-run shot to right field. Those three runs would be the only runs the Jackalopes put on the board until five innings later in the bottom of the seventh.

The Raptors scored in all of their first seven offensive innings, but heading into stretchtime, Isaac Nunez hit a two-run shot to the mini monster in left, followed by Mason Minzey's second homer of the day, his 20th on the year (first Jackalope to reach 20 home runs in 2025).

Jacob McCaskey and Reese Miller, teammates with the 2024 Northern Colorado Owlz that have reunited in Grand Junction this season, were the only Jackalopes to post a zero on the Raptors' offense in the final two innings, both of which were shutdown innings with the Jackalopes offense scoring five in the bottom of the seventh and eighth respectively, but Nico Saltaformaggio, who gave up one of those five late runs, shut down the Jackalopes in the final frame of regulation, leaving two stranded.

The Jackalopes are now 9-20 in the second half, 13 games behind .500 in the overall record, and with Saturday night's loss to the Raptors have officially lost seven of their first 13 series of 2025.

Blankenship, who has now given up seven runs in 1.2 innings between his first two starts, fell to 0-2, while Eli Elliott of the Raptors advanced to 5-3 on the season with the win.

The series finale of the penultimate home series at Suplizio will take place on Sunday afternoon, starting at 1:35 PM MT.

Check out the Grand Junction Jackalopes Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Pioneer League Stories from August 17, 2025


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central