Owlz 20-Run Explosion Ends Three-Game Losing Streak

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- After losing a seven-run lead on Friday night, NoCo constructed a Saturday lead so strong you couldn't practically comprehend a collapse.

The Owlz (8-8) scored 20 unanswered runs, running up a lead so ridiculous it wrote four new season highs. They won 20-4 and snapped a three-game losing streak against the Vibes (7-9).

Twenty runs is an obvious season high. Less obvious: alongside 18 hits, NoCo drew nine walks. That tally takes the team's top mark for walks in a game.

Six swingers socked multiple hits. Three of them thumped three or more hits. Kevin Higgins headed his club by clubbing four hits, creating a new personal season-best mark in that department.

Five batters brought in multiple RBI. Brandon Crosby and Ty Lewis led the way with four RBI each. Crosby cracked four RBI for the first time this season. He and Cameron Phelts scored four runs in the ballgame.

Best of all, all that production was unperturbed by pesky weather.

In the middle of the game, a 70-minute weather delay halted NoCo's hot bats. The weather affected the ending too. This game got called after the seventh inning due to the likelihood of more lightning.  

The Owlz were electric all the way through the seven innings they did play. Despite the delay, they never laid off the gas pedal. They scored seven runs before the break, meaning their remaining 13 came after the storm.

NoCo's Colton Williams was really the only Owl hindered by the hiatus. The storm signaled the end of the southpaw's start, one that had lasted three innings with three strikeouts to that point.

He didn't look great from the get go, though. Three pitches into Williams' outing, two Vibes occupied spots in scoring position. Four first-inning hits produced a pair of runs, and Rocky Mountain quickly led 2-0.

But the birds with the bats swung back, delivering blow after blow after blow to blow this thing wide open.

NoCo responded by roping three hits and recording three runs, taking the lead in top two. The next three frames featured four runs apiece. The Owlz sent eight to the plate in each of those four-run innings.

In the sixth, the birds beat up Vibes pitching to plate five more and cap their colossal day at the dish. 

Saturday's the first time in five years the Owlz scored 20 runs in a game. The last time? August 26, 2017. The 16-run win also the Owlz biggest dub since that date. 

NoCo followed up a forgettable Friday with firepower up and down its lineup.

Alex Jackson and Tim Bouchard both banked just one hit, but they each scored three runs. Abdel Guadalupe left Saturday as the only starter without a hit, but he still pitched in an RBI. 

Marshall Rich went 2-for-5 with a ribbie. Matthew Turner tapped two hits himself, also adding two RBI to his record. Crosby conked a double and a triple as his two hits. Phelts and Lewis both went 3-for-4, both booming two extra-base hits. 

By taking over for Williams after the weather delay, William Kirwan (W, 1-0) entered the win column. In his three innings, he gave up three hits and fanned four of the 14 batters he faced. The two hits he surrendered scored no runs.

Can NoCo keep their runs coming in Sunday's series finale? If so, they could salvage a series split despite losing back-to-back-to-back ballgames. 

The birds will try building on Saturday's momentum when Sunday's 5:05 p.m. first pitch rolls around. But they'll enjoy this one until then.