The Ogden Raptors opened the team’s six-game road series with a win over the Mustangs in Billings on Wednesday night before the two teams began the second game of a doubleheader scheduled after the series opener scheduled for Tuesday was canceled due to rain.
For Ogden, this was the fifth win in the last six games and the start of a winning streak that the Raptors need to make it into the playoffs in the second half of the season.
The Raptors looked to continue that streak with an early win in Game 2 on Wednesday, but ultimately lost by a relatively short margin.
Ogden (34-40, 12-14 second half) and Billings (34-40, 12-14) play again on Thursday at 6:35 p.m.
MUSTANGS 12, RAPTORS 6
In the second game on Wednesday, Ogden took a 4-0 lead in the first when Raymond Gil scored two runs and later scored on a passed ball.
That quickly changed, however, when Billings outfielder Gabe Wurtz hit a two-run homer in the second inning and a three-run blast in the fourth inning.
Wurtz’s second home run was part of a miserable inning for Ogden starter Mitchell Stone, in which the Mustangs got five hits in five batters to start the inning. The last hit in the sequence ended Stone’s night when Abe Valdez hit a two-run home run that put Billings ahead 7-4.
The Raptors briefly narrowed the gap to 7-6 when True Fontenot (double) and Pearce Howard (single) scored runs in the fifth inning.
But Billings scored four more runs, albeit only one earned, with Nico Saltaformaggio on the mound in the bottom half of the fifth inning.
Stone suffered the loss. Brendan Medoro picked up the win for Billings, as he and Cam Tullar combined for ten strikeouts and just one walk in the seven-inning game.
RAPTORS 7, MUSTANGS 5
In the first game on Wednesday, the Raptors built a 6-0 lead and were able to avoid disaster in the second half of the seventh inning to take the win.
Nick Ultsch (single), Jack Cone (sacrifice fly), Raymond Gil (home run) and Landen Barns (single) each scored an early run around Cole Jordan’s double with two RBIs to secure a 6-0 lead after three innings.
Raptors starter Gabriel Pacheco ran into trouble in the fourth inning when he allowed a solo home run to catcher Dylan Leach to open the inning. Two singles and an error loaded the bases for Billings; Pacheco scored a run to make it 6-3, then was relieved by Shane Gustafson and got a groundout to end the threat.
Gustafson thus earned the win and an out at the beginning of the fifth inning, giving him a free line after two-thirds of an inning pitched.
Dawson Lane threw a strong 3 2/3 innings for Billings to close (two hits, no runs, six strikeouts, no walks), and the game went smoothly until the bottom of the seventh inning, when Ogden’s Dylan Matsuoka allowed three walks and a single.
A fielder’s choice RBI groundout tied the game at 7-5, but with two outs and the tying run on base, Matsuoka got shortstop Blake Evans to pop out to end the game.
Jordan, Ultsch and Pearce Howard each had two hits for Ogden; Howard scored two runs.
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