Chukars Split Doubleheader vs Orem

Chukars Split a Doubleheader vs Orem
By: Tyson Whiting
The Idaho Falls Chukars split a doubleheader on Friday night as they lost 3-1 in the first game and won 6-1 in the second game against the Orem Owlz at Melaleuca Field.
With Grand Junction winning 11-4 over Ogden, the Chukars are 2 games back with 5 games to play.
In the first game, it was a 1-1 tie going into the 7^th inning, where Jeremiah Jackson hit a 2 run homer to right field off Jon Heasley to give the Owlz a 3-1 lead, which held up to give Orem their 21^st win of the season. Idaho Falls was held to 4 hits in the game. Rubendy Jaquez went 2 of 2 with a walk. Jaquez went 2 for 3 with an RBI as he went 4 for 5 in the 2 games.
Heasley struck out 4 batters with no walks in 5 innings, allowing 5 hits in his first relief appearance of the year.
Bubba Starling hit a solo home run in the 4^th inning of the first game. Starling was playing his 3^rd game of his rehab assignment. Starling was the 5^th overall pick of the 2011 draft.
In the second game, it was a scoreless game through 4 innings. Orem scored a run in the top of the fifth inning. Idaho Falls responded in the bottom of the 5^th. The inning led with walks by Hunter Strong and Jesus Atencio, both off Orem pitcher Emilker Guzman. The next batter, Julio Gonzalez hit a 3 run triple as he scored on a throwing error, rounding the bases and with 1 swing of the bat, it was a 3-1 Chukars lead.
Elvis Luciano pitched 6 innings, allowing 4 hits, 1 unearned run in the 2^nd game as got the win in his Chukars debut. Domingo Pena pitched a scoreless 7^th inning to secure the 6-1 win in the second game of the twin-bill.
The final meeting between the 2 teams is Saturday night at Melaleuca Field. 7:15 pm first pitch as Rito Lugo pitches for the Chukars against RHP Cristopher Molina for Orem.
Chukars notes: Both teams had 11 hits each in the 2 games. Nate Eaton went hitless in the 2^nd game of the doubleheader, ending his hitting streak at 8 games. He still has a base hit in 17 of his last 19 games. Nick Hutchins went 1 for 3 in the 2^nd game Friday to extend his hitting streak to 9 games. Tyler James missed his 15^th straight game due to an injury. He has hit in 18 straight games. Rylan Kaufman went 2 innings in the first game as he made his Chukars debut. He allowed 1 unearned and 2 hits, striking out 3. 4 of the 7 Chukars hits were for extra bases in the 2^nd game. The Chukars had 4 stolen bases in the 2 games. He now has 102 stolen bases on the year. Attendance was 2,252.