Vibes Balanced Attack Downs Owlz

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Rocky Mountain brought a balanced attack on Thursday, downing the Owlz with steadiness in the box and strikeout stuff on the bump.

The Vibes (20-19) tallied 12 hits and tossed 12 strikeouts. They only struck out three times themselves. Of those 12 hits, eight belonged to the lineup's lefties, who went 8-for-14 overall. They drove in five of the seven RBI and scored three of the seven runs.  

None of that happened until the third, though. Austin Schneider (L, 2-7) sped through the first two innings, using only 24 pitches to do it. He induced a duo of double plays, one in each of those innings.

The righty received run support in those two innings too.

Abdel Guadalupe became bait on the bases to plate the game's first run. First, Cameron Phelts found his way on after an error. The walking double swiped second a few pitches later, his 45^th stolen base of the season. When Guadalupe walked, they tried a double steal. Phelts stole third, notching theft number 46, as the Vibes tried to throw Guadalupe out at second. The Puerto Rican provoked a pickle, and Phelts scored before the tag was applied. 1-0 Owlz after one.

NoCo's next run is a lot simpler to explain: Ronnie Allen hit a home run, and he hit it really hard.

It traveled 109 mph off the bat and traveled 457 feet. The switch-hitting slugger's solo shot is his second professional home run. 2-0 Owlz after two.

Right after that, Rocky Mountain spouted off for five runs. Its first one came courtesy of a sac fly, which came at the expense of a great grab by Alex Jackson. He spelled Phelts in center field for the night, following up Phelts' ridiculous robbery from Wednesday's win.

The Vibes' four-run fourth fast-tracked them to Thursday's win.

Schneider hit the first two batsmen with bean balls. Then a single, a throwing error, and two doubles did the trick, tacking on enough for a 5-2 Vibes lead.

Dakota Popham pasted an RBI single in the sixth, scoring Tim Bouchard, but that was the last of the road team's runs for a while.

Meanwhile, Rocky Mountain popped a pair of solo homers to extend its lead to 7-3. It stayed that way until the ninth, when birds made a bit of a push. Popham and Kevin Higgins hit consecutive singles to start the stanza. Euro Diaz dropped one into right for an RBI base knock. Jackson joined in with a run-scoring groundout the next at-bat.

But the game got no closer. This one ended with a 7-5 Vibes victory.

Rocky Mountain's Armando Valle (W, 1-1) struck out six in his start. With his win, NoCo's now 8-4 against southpaw starters this season.

On the bump for the birds, Isaiah Ramos and William Kirwan combined for all three strikeouts. Ramos worked one inning of scoreless ball. Kirwan coughed up one of those solo homers, resulting in the earned run he allowed.

Popham and Allen each etched two hits in the game to lead the Owlz. They took home half of their team's four total RBI in the process.

These teams tango only twice more in the Battle of I-25. For the Owlz, the impressive Preston Snavely is set to step on the mound for his fifth time facing the Vibes this year.

Friday's first pitch from UC Health Park is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.