Vibes Drop Second Half Opener to Owlz

By Cassee Campbell

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - An early start for the Northern Colorado Owlz propelled them to a 12-2 victory over the Vibes. Back at home tonight, as their alter-ego the LLoronas, the Vibes kicked off a six game series with the Owlz, three games at UCHealth Park and three games in NoCo.

The Owlz found their sweet spot with the bats tonight and used that to their advantage to push across runs early and often.

The Vibes trailed 4-0 after the top of the first.

Brett Erwin only lasted four innings and just couldn't perform in front of his home crowd tonight. He allowed nine runs, eight earned, on 13 hits and didn't have the defense to back him up either -  the Vibes gave up three errors. Erwin took the loss tonight, his third of the season.  

Rocky Mountain put up their two runs early on in the game and couldn't make anything happen after the third. 

A lightning delay at the top of the fifth slowed down the game some, but the last few innings seemed to fly by. 

Chris Allen relieved Ewrin in the fifth, and pitched four solid innings on the mound allowing 6H, 3R, 3ER, 1BB, and 2 Ks. 

Vibes newcomer Dusty Baird came in at the top of the ninth for his professional ball debut out of the bullpen. He put up a good preformance with a stat line of 1IP, 0H, 0R, and 1K. 

Owlz pitching was good. The starting pitcher, Will Buraconak, pitched six impressive innings giving up just one earned run, and got the win. Chance Benton came in for the Owlz at the seventh inning, and pitched three scoreless innings and earned his third save of the season. 

Alas, despite high hopes, the Vibes couldn't pull the win.

The Rocky Mountain Vibes are back again tomorrow night to take NoCo on in game two of the series. Join us back here for a 6:30PM start for our dollar dog special. They close out their short homestand on Thirsty Thursday with discounted drink specials.