Chukars Lose 3rd In a Row

Chukars Lose 3^rd In a Row
By: Tyson Whiting
The Idaho Falls Chukars led 7-1 in the middle of the 6^th inning but 11 unanswered runs by the Great Falls Voyagers over the next 3 innings leads to a 12-7 win over the Chukars on Friday night at Centene Stadium.
The Chukars took a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning on a Nate Eaton 2 run double. Eaton went 3 for 5 with a run scored and 2 RBI's. He is now hitting .339 on the year.
Great Falls got on the board in the bottom of the 3^rd inning on a solo home run by LF Micah Coffey off of Chukars pitcher Connor Mayes. It was a solid outing by Mayes, who allowed 3 runs and 7 hits in 6 innings of work, striking out 4 and walking 1.
Chukars got a great game from Hunter Strong, who went 3 for 3 along with a 2 run home run in the 4^th inning to give the Chukars a 4-1 lead. Strong is hitting .367 on the season.
Chukars took a 7-1 lead after scoring 3 runs in the top of the 5^th. Jose Caraballo, Chase Vallot and Angel Medina each had an RBI in the inning.
The game changed in the 6^th inning, where Great Falls chipped away with 2 runs in the 6^th inning off Mayes and 4 more in the 7^th off LHP Jaret Hellinger to tie the game 7-7. In the bottom of the 8^th, Great Falls scored 5 off of RHP Jose Ramirez. The big hits were a bunt single by Lenyn Sosa to advance to Romy Gonzalez, who scored on a Jesus Atencio throwing error.
Clutch hitting helped Great Falls in the game as the Voyagers were 7 for 15 with runners in scoring position.
Saturday night is game 3 of the 4 game series. Idaho Falls has lost 3 in a row as they send RHP CJ Eldred to the mound against LHP Konnor Pilkington for Great Falls. 7:00 pm first pitch.
Chukars notes: Tyler James went 1 for 4 to extend his hitting streak to 14 games. James also stole a base in the first inning after a leadoff walk to start the game. It's his 34^th of the season. He has stolen more than the entire Voyagers team (34 to 30). Jose Ramirez got the loss for the Chukars. He allowed 5 runs, 4 earned in 1.2 innings. Ramirez ERA goes to 4.41 on the year. Jose Caraballo hit his 18^th double of the season in the top of the 5^th inning. That ties him for the league and team lead with Chukars 1B Reed Rohlman. Chukars have allowed 23 runs in the last 2 games. Great Falls scored 4 runs in the 7^th inning. The Chukars have been outscored 50-23 in the 7^th inning of games this season.