4-1 Win Gives Owlz Sweep of Idaho Falls

The Owlz swept the Idaho Falls Chukars in a short, two-game series, capping it off with a 4-1 win Wednesday night in Orem.

Starting pitcher Arjenis Fernandez dominated from the mound. He threw six innings, giving up six hits and just the one run. His ERA dropped to 2.45 on the season after the solid outing, pushing him into the top ten in the Pioneer League.

The Owlz got on the board quickly for the second consecutive night, scoring in the bottom of the first after Bo Way tripled and Ryan Seiz drove him in on a sacrifice fly.

Idaho Falls tied it in the top of the third, but the Owlz answered right back with two runs in the bottom half of the inning. Way started the rally again with a leadoff double. Third baseman Zach Houchins followed Way with another double, driving Way in. Houchins later scored on an RBI groundout by Tyler Palmer.

That was all the Owlz pitching staff would need although the Chukars threatened in the top of the seventh. Idaho Falls had a runner on third with nobody out and two on with one out in the inning, but reliever Tyler Carpenter got out of the jam after inducing a shallow pop up and a ground out to shortstop Jake Yacinich.

Manager Dave Stapleton was ejected in the inning after arguing with home plate umpire Jesse Orozco who ruled that Idaho Falls hitter Brawlun Gomez had been hit by a pitch when the pitch had appeared to hit off the knob of Gomez' bat. The ball bounced back to the pitcher, Carpenter, who threw it to first base, but Gomez was awarded first base when Orozco called it a hit batsman. Stapleton argued and was quickly ejected for the second night in a row by Orozco.

The ejection ignited the crowd at The Home of the Owlz, and Carpenter eventually got out of the jam. The Owlz added an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh on a Way sacrifice fly.

Right-handed submariner, Jacob Kopra shut it down in the ninth with two strikeouts in the 1-2-3 inning to pick up the save.

The Owlz improved to 5-1 against Idaho Falls on the season and 6-4 overall.

Orem will play at Ogden at 7 p.m. on Thursday night. The game can be heard on audio.oremowlz.com.