Rockies' Pitching Propels Another Win over the Owlz

GREELEY, Colo. -- The Owlz wings were clipped by a commanding pitching performance on Thursday, grounding NoCo for its fourth loss in a row.

In this 11-5 victory, the trio that toed the rubber for the Rockies (10-9) fanned 14 batters. Their starter Josh Agnew (W, 2-1) struck out nine NoCo (8-11) batters in his six innings of mastery.

But early on, it looked like Jerryell Rivera (L, 0-2) could be the one in command.

First off, he had the lead first. Brandon Crosby tapped a two-out double, his fourth of the year, down the right field line. Then Brian Dansereau dropped in an RBI single to bring Crosby home for the game's first run, giving the Owlz a 1-0 lead after one.

Rivera cruised through the first third of the game. After issuing at least six walks in each of his first two starts, on Thursday, the lanky lefty didn't allow any free passes until the third inning. Even better, he didn't allow a hit until the fourth inning. 

Unfortunately, though, that hit happened to be a three-run homer. And it preceded two more hits that brought in five more runs in that fourth inning. 

That's when Rivera's outing ended. He lasted 3.1 innings and ended up allowing five earned runs. 

Meanwhile, Agnew attacked NoCo hitters all afternoon. He did give up eight hits in his stellar start, but he also walked just one. 

In the end, Agnew allowed four earned runs. The Owlz put up one of those in the fifth when Cameron Phelts put one past the second baseman, scoring Alex Jackson from second. 

The Rockies responded right away with three more RBI in the top of the sixth, the same inning Agnew threw just nine pitches and recorded his ninth strikeout.

The starter's outing finished in the seventh after the Owlz plated another pair for which he was responsible. Marshall Rich roped his fourth sac fly of the season to bring home Kevin Higgins before Phelts found another RBI in his groundout to the right side, scoring Zach West. That action added two runs and made it a 10-4 game at the time.

Grand Junction's Michael Bono and Jared Price spun some good stuff on the hill as well, combining to strike out five of the 13 batters they faced. Price did allow a run in the bottom of the ninth on Cam Phelts' single, giving the center fielder his third RBI of the game. He also slapped three hits on Thursday, the only Owlz hitter to have more than one in the game.

Christian Griffin and Noah Parsons completed the pitching part of the box score for NoCo. Griffin fanned three Rockies hitters across his 3.2 innings of work while Parsons pitched in a pair of his own punch outs. 

Even so, for the third night in a row, Grand Junction tagged 10-plus hits. All but one of its Thursday starters logged a base knock.

While the Rockies rocked it from top to bottom, the top of NoCo's order offered the most offense. Batters six through nine combined for just two of the Owlz 10 hits while recording 10 of the team's 14 strikeouts. 

So, overall, the bats went a little quiet. At the same time, despite four errors, the defense had moments where it spoke volumes.

Ty Lewis had a savvy showing from his spot at the hot corner. And if it weren't for Jackson's leaping catch against the left field wall, a sixth-inning explosion could've stolen the storyline in this one. 

NoCo's next chance to put it all together comes on Friday, the fourth match in this series between South Division rivals. First pitch from Jackson Field is scheduled for 4:05 p.m.