The Osprey went yard three times at Ogren-Allegiance Park and finished with 16 hits en route to a 14-3 win over the Ogden Raptors, their largest margin of victory since June 21.
Missoula's good hitting and good fortunes snapped a nine-game losing streak, the team's second-longest skid of the season. It also marked the Birds' first win against a team from Utah this season. They were 0-8 after Thursday's series-opening loss to the Raptors and an 0-for-7 road swing through Orem and Ogden last week.
In the stands, Osprey fans were doing all they could to remember the good days; fans paused to snap pictures of the scoreboard amid cries of “Holy cow” and “oh my gosh, they're gonna win.”
“It's tough,” Missoula starting pitcher Brett Reynolds said of the losing streak. “Orem and Ogden are two really good teams so to finally get one from them is nice. Hopefully we can carry that over for the rest of the series, because losing nine in a row is tough.”
The same two teams play Saturday at 7:05 p.m. and wrap up a four-game series at 5:05 p.m. on Sunday. The O's improved to 4-14 in the second half, while the Raptors fell to 11-7.
Missoula cut loose for eight runs in the seventh inning, including a pair of home runs.
Jacob Elmore had a three-run home run that put the O's ahead 13-3. Isasias Ascencio led off the inning with a solo homer and added a fielder's choice RBI in his second at-bat of the inning to make it 14-3.
Ascencio went 4-for-5 with two runs batted in to lead Missoula, which moved its overall season record to 13-43. Estevez was 3-for-5 with two RBIs and Reynaldo Navarro went 3-for-5 with an RBI, just one night after going 4-for-5 at the plate.
“Everybody was pretty excited. Everybody was doing their jobs,” Estevez said. “When you're up you feel like we can win today, but when you're down there's no energy in the dugout, and that's when we need to help each other.”
Reynolds helped himself to just his second win of the season. The durable right-hander worked six innings, allowing three runs on nine hits, but he struck out five batters and stayed away from the big inning. Reynolds (2-5) won for the first time since July 25.
“When you have days like this, it's nice,” he said.
The O's scored four times in the second inning to take a 4-2 lead. Estevez's two-run homer highlighted the frame and answered the two-run bomb hit by Ogden's Kyle Orr in the top half of the inning.
Notes: The Osprey had their second lowest attendance of the season behind Sunday July 27, which also happens to be the last time Missoula pounded out 16 hits in a game. They drew 1,655 for that Sunday game loss to Helena. The O's drew 1,801 on Friday. ŠThe Raptors had four errors, which contributed to the Osprey scoring splurge.
OGDEN MISSOULA
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Gordon ss 5 1 1 0 Diaz cf 4 3 2 1
Ruggiano 2b 4 0 2 0 Elmore 2b 4 1 2 3
Buss cf 5 0 0 0 White 1b 4 1 1 2
Russell rf 2 0 0 0 Greene 3b 4 0 0 0
Vetters lf 4 1 3 0 Asencio rf 5 2 4 2
Caseres 1b 3 0 0 0 Stone lf 4 1 0 0
Orr dh 4 1 1 2 Estevez dh 5 2 3 2
Collado c 3 0 0 0 Perez c 5 2 1 0
Arp c 1 0 0 0 Navarro ss 5 2 3 1
Yount 3b 4 0 3 0
Totals 35 3 10 2 Totals 40 14 16 11
Ogden 021 000 000 - 3
Missoula 040 101 80x - 14
E - Smit, Yount, Ruggiano, Runnels. DP - Ogden 2, Missoula 2. LOB - Ogden 9, Missoula 7. 2B - Ruggiano, Vetters, Elmore. 3B - Diaz, White. HR - Orr (5), Estevez (3), Asencio (8), Elmore (3). SB - Asencio (2), Estevez (3). CS - Navarro (7).
Ogden
IP H R ER BB SO
Smit L, 0-1 3.0 6 4 4 3 2
Smith 3.0 4 2 1 1 1
Runnels 1.0 6 8 6 1 2
Walter 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
Missoula
Reynolds W, 2-5 6.0 9 3 3 1 5
Orosco 2.0 1 0 0 2 1
Reagan 1.0 0 0 0 1 2
WP - Smit, Reynolds 3.
Umpires - Brett Houseman, Blake Davis.
T - 2:45.
A - 1,801
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