Owlz Offense Remains Stagnant Behind Buraconak's Gem

By Skyler Timmins

OGDEN, Utah -- Playing in Ogden for the first time since June, the Owlz looked to turn over a new leaf and break out of a hitting slump that plagued them in their previous two games. Unfortunately, the offense was not able to back up a stellar outing by Will Buraconak as the Raptors hit a walk-off single to win 3-2 in a breezy two-and-a-half-hour pitcher's duel to open the six-game series. 

The Raptors (13-12) jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the first after an error allowed Josh Broughton to reach safely. After a wild pitch and a groundout to advance Broughton to third, Matt Warkentin would push him across with an RBI single to right to take an early 1-0 lead.

However, they would struggle to get much offense going forward. Not since the asteroid 65 million years ago has a group of raptors faced a more powerful force than Will Buraconak. The big lefty breezed through eight innings of work, tied for the longest start by an Owlz pitcher this season, allowing just one earned run on eight hits while striking out eight batters and issuing just one walk. 

The Owlz (9-15) offense was unable to muster enough offense to back up their pitcher. After going scoreless in 22 straight innings, the Owlz finally ended that streak in the top of the fourth inning but have been held scoreless in 27 of their last 28 innings. Alex Jackson led things off with a walk and would quickly score on an RBI triple from Cam Phelts down the right field line, his ninth of the season. A one-out single by Brandon Crosby would drive in Phelts and give the Owlz a 2-1 lead. 

Pitch for pitch Ronny Orta matched Buraconak throughout the game. The Ogden ace allowed two runs on five hits over eight innings of work while striking out eight NoCo batters. He induced 10 groundouts, utilizing some stellar defense from his infield to keep the Owlz in check

Orta's performance gave the Raptors a chance to muster a rally to tie things back up in the bottom of the seventh. Brian Dansereau laced a one-out single to right field and as he took an aggressive turn around first base, Abdel Guadalupe threw the ball away trying to throw behind the runner at first. The error allowed Dansereau to move up to second and subsequently score on a single from Jesus Valdez to tie up the game at two runs apiece. 

Things got hairy in the bottom of the eighth after Broughton reached via a fielder's choice. Gunnar Buhner then singled to advance the runner and was then caught in a rundown with the intention of allowing Broughton to score. However, Crosby made a heads-up play and fired a laser to Marshall Rich at the plate who applied the tag to keep things tied. A strikeout of Reese Alexiades ended the inning and sent things to the ninth. 

Brandon McCabe (W, 2-2) took the victory after he struck out a pair in a scoreless top of the ninth inning, as the Owlz continued to struggle to string together hits since the fourth inning, punching out 10 times in the game. The Owlz would counter with Christian Griffin (L, 1-2)  in the bottom of the ninth, where things again got tense. Warkentin led off with his second hit of the night, with Dustyn Macaluso coming in as a running replacement. Lady luck would work against the Owlz after Macaluso was caught in a rundown due to a back pick by Rich, but an errant throw hit off the runner and put him in scoring position. An intentional walk to Dansereau brought Valdez to the plate who would then lace a single into left field to win the ball game. 

Up Next: 

The Owlz will look to build on a strong pitching performance and figure out their offensive woes as they send Preston Snavely to the mound in game two of the series. The first pitch is scheduled to occur at 7:00 pm. Follow along with the road trip by following NoCo's social media channels. The Owlz live @NoCoOwlz on Facebook and Instagram and @OwlzNoCo on Twitter.