Owlz Put Together A Complete Win

The Owlz (27-24, 5-8) connected one of their most complete performances of the season into a win to even the series with the Helena Brewers (20-30, 5-7) with a 5-1 final.

Three batters in the Owlz already had a two-run lead, and starter Travis Herrin turned in the best performance of his professional career in five shutout innings with three strikeouts. The righty also retired the first 11 batters he faced and didn't allow a hit until one out in the fifth.

Also the Owlz did not commit an error in the win - only the ninth time this year they've finished the game with a zero in the column.

Orem's offense broke out early against Brewers' starter Emerson Gibbs with three runs on 11 hits off of the righty in his four innings of work. Jose Rojas and Zach Gibbons had RBI doubles in the first, then Keith Grieshaber doubled to lead off the second and later scored on a Ryan Scott single.

Nick Flair scored in the fifth on a wild pitch from reliever Dalton Brown to up the score to 4-0. In the bottom half of the inning, Herrin would allow his first hit but leave two runners stranded to preserve the shutout.

Tyler Warmoth was next, and he worked a scoreless bottom of the sixth. The Owlz added another run in the seventh thanks to a Grieshaber single. His three hits tied a career-high and it was his highest total in the Pioneer League. Not to be lost in the shuffle, Jahmai Jones also tied a career-high with four hits and stole two bases to take the league lead at 19.

The Brewers would finally get on the board in the bottom of the seventh on a soft single to right by Caleb Whalen, but it would be all they would get. Greg Belton came on for the final two innings and retired all six batters he faced while collecting a pair of strikeouts.

The weekend series and the season series are now tied with Sunday's finale as the tipping point. Nate Bertness will take the mound for the Owlz with first pitch at 1:05 MDT.