Owlz start fast and hold on

OREM — The formula Tuesday for the Orem Owlz was simple: score early and watch starting pitcher Jose Arredondo stymie visiting Casper.

The result for Orem was a 5-4 victory over the Rockies.

The Owlz exploded for all five of their runs in the bottom of the second, and Arredondo struck out nine and while yielding no runs through six innings.

Arredondo gave up a two-run home run in the seventh shortly before exiting the game, and the Orem bullpen made it interesting in the ninth before finally closing the deal.

Owlz second baseman Billy Boyer led off the home half of the second with a double to right field. Consecutive singles by Anderson Rosario and Martin Maldonado scored Boyer. After Santrel Smith struck out, shortstop Hainley Statia hit a comebacker to Casper pitcher Brandon Durden.

Durden threw to first baseman Christopher Cook. The ball, however, bounced off Cook's arm. Durden was charged with an error; Statia advanced to third, and both Rosario and Maldonado scored on the play to make it 3-0.

Bradley Coon doubled home Statia, and first baseman Mark Trumbo singled home Coon to complete Orem's five-run rally.

Arredondo allowed four base runners combined in the first two innings, but worked out of jams to keep the Rockies scoreless.

After Arredondo allowed three hits through six innings, Casper touched the Orem starter for two runs in the seventh on a double by Rockies center fielder Dexter Fowler followed by Bret Berglund's homer to center field that made it 5-2.

Fowler and Berglund gave the Owlz trouble again in the top of the ninth. Orem reliever Timothy Didjurgis walked Fowler to lead off the inning and, after a pitching change, Berglund doubled to left off of Kevin Lynch.

Fowler eventually scored on a Lynch wild pitch, and Berglund came around to touch home on Steven Suarez' single to trim the Owlz' lead to 5-4.

With the potential tying run on first base and one out, Boyer ended both the rally and the game by fielding a grounder, touching second base, and throwing across his body to first in time to beat the runner and complete the double play.

The victory pulls the Owlz into a tie with Ogden for first place in the Pioneer League southern division. Orem now travels north to Ogden for a three-game set. Tonight's game marks the beginning of a stretch where the Owlz and Raptors play each other ever day for a week.

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E-mail: jaskar@desnews.com