Raptors Hang on After Fifth Inning Comeback
August 24, 2018 - Pioneer League (PL)
Ogden Raptors News Release
OGDEN, UT - Through the top of the fifth inning Thursday night, the Great Falls Voyagers appeared to be on a roll and on their way to a third-straight win over the Ogden Raptors.
With two out in the bottom of the fifth, however, Matt Cogen laced a run-scoring double to left-center that started an avalanche of hits. The Raptors ended up scoring five in the fifth to take a lead, and they beat the Voyagers in the finale of the four-game set, 8-7.
With one out in the fifth and the Raptors down, 7-3, Jefrey Souffront hit a triple down the right field line. Cogen's two-out double knocked him in, and Dillon Paulson, Daniel Robinson and James Outman all singled to bring Ogden within one.
Outman stole second to put runners on second and third, bringing up Ronny Brito. Brito sent a ground ball to the right side that Amada Nuñez, the Great Falls second baseman, overran. Robinson and Outman both scored on the two-out error for the tying and go-ahead runs.
After that rally, the Raptors pitching staff shut down the Voyagers. Great Falls had 10 hits through the first five innings but mustered only two in the final four. Both came in the sixth, when Justin Bruihl erased one runner on a double play and struck out another with two on to end the frame.
Bruihl worked around a walk in the seventh before striking out two more to finish two scoreless innings for his fifth win of the season. Luis Pasen registered his second save by mowing down the Voyagers for a pair of perfect frames with three strikeouts.
Great Falls took an early lead with a two-run home run with two out in the first, but the Raptors bounced back to load the bases with no one out in the home half. Two groundouts brought in runs to tie the game, and with two out Jon Littell's infield single scored Paulson to put Ogden up, 3-2.
The visitors tied the game on a bases-loaded, no out double play in the third and then scored three in the fourth to take a 6-3 lead. They added one in the fifth after an error to go up by four.
With the win, the Raptors salvages a split of the four-game series and took the season series against their 2017 Pioneer League championship opponents, 4-3.
Ogden now returns to South division play for the remaining 12 games of the regular season. The first four will be in Orem, with 6:35 PM starts on Friday, Saturday, Monday and Tuesday. Ogden then hosts Idaho Falls for two and Grand Junction for a pair to finish the home schedule before kicking the season-ending four-game series at Idaho Falls on Labor Day. The Pioneer League playoffs begin Friday, September 7.
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Pioneer League Stories from August 24, 2018
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