Aces unload for 16 runs to take series against Las Vegas

SUMMERLIN, Nev. – For the third-straight night, the Reno Aces bats exploded to give the team a big win over the Las Vegas Aviators. The balanced attack included eight different players scoring a run, and seven notching an RBI.

Reno jumped out to a lead for the fifth-straight game, hanging four runs in the second inning. Bryan Holaday drove in the first run, coming off a sacrifice fly to score Andrew Young. On the play, Drew Ellis tagged up and moved to third. The next batter, Matt Lipka, drove him in with a single to make it 2-0. Lipka moved up to second base after the play went to the plate.

With Christian Lopes and Lipka in scoring position, Camden Duzenack drove in two behind a single to make it 4-0 early.

The Aces bats kept coming, scoring in the top of the third off of an RBI double from Young. The hit brought in Daulton Varsho, and made it 5-0 entering the bottom of the third.

Reno would make it three-straight innings with at least a run, adding five runs in the fourth. The first runs came on a two-run double from Josh VanMeter. After posting five RBIs last night, the two added to VanMeter’s total make him tied for the eighth-most RBIs on the team with 15 in 16 games.

Varsho stepped into the batter’s box and on an 0-1 pitch took a ball well beyond the outfield wall for his fourth homer of the series. The bomb scored VanMeter, making it 9 RBIs in the series for Varsho as well.

Two batters later, Ellis crushed a solo shot too to make it a 10-0 Aces lead.

Las Vegas broke up the shutout in the bottom of the fifth, scoring one run to make it a 10-1 game.

In the top of the sixth, Bryan Holaday joined the long list of Aces to score. On the first pitch he saw, Holaday hit a homer to center to score Ellis and make it a 12-1 lead.

Las Vegas answered with a two-run homer of their own in the bottom of the sixth, making it a 12-3 game.

The Aces would extend the lead again, with Duzenack hitting a solo home run in the top of the seventh to make it 13-3, before Lipka knocked in a run on an RBI single in the top of the eighth to make it 14-3.

The Aviators picked up a run in the bottom of the eighth to make it a 14-4 ballgame heading into the final frame.

Reno would again add on to the lead, with Young hitting Reno’s fifth homer of the night to score VanMeter and make it a 16-4 lead.

Junior Garcia would enter to pitch a shutout in the bottom of the ninth, securing the win and a 4-2 series victory.

That concludes the six-game series in Summerlin. The Aces will be back in action on Thursday to start a six-game home series against the Albuquerque Isotopes. First pitch on Thursday is set for 6:35 p.m. PT, and can be heard on KPLY 630 AM locally, or on RenoAces.com.