Bullpen Shuts Down Owlz in 3-2 Win

By Nevada Cullen

OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Ballers crushed back-to-back jacks to take a 3-0 lead in the second inning and held on for a 3-2 victory over the Northern Colorado Owlz on Wednesday at Raimondi Park. TJ Czyz threw three solid frames in his Ballers debut, and the Oakland bullpen held the Owlz scoreless the rest of the way.

In the first, the Ballers earned three free passes to load the bases for Tripp Clark. He hit a soft grounder to the left side of the infield for an RBI fielder's choice to draw first blood.

Jaylen Smith led off the second inning with a cloud-scraping long ball to left. His ninth home run of the season doubled the Oakland advantage.

Next, Drew Woodcox came to the dish. He followed Smith's round-tripper with one of his own, as he just cleared the wall in left field with his first professional hit and homer.

Kevin Jimenez brought Northern Colorado within a run in the third with a two-run blast to right. Czyz completed his strong first outing for Oakland with a pair of strikeouts after the two-run shot, finishing with four punchouts over three innings.

In the fourth, Brody Eglite took over in relief for the Ballers. He shut out the Owlz in his three innings of work, and struck out three in the process. Eglite saw his scoreless-innings streak stretch to 11.2 as a result, and picked up his fifth win.

Conner Sullivan pitched the seventh and eighth frames in his second professional appearance. He punched out three Owlz in two hitless innings.

Then, the Ballers turned to Braydon Nelson to attempt his first professional save. He rose to the occasion, using a pickoff, a strikeout and a groundout to lock down the 3-2 win for Oakland.

The Ballers snapped Northern Colorado's four-game win streak with the win, and hope to start one of their own. First pitch is slated for 6:35 p.m. PDT on Thursday for the third game of the series. As always, you can listen on 860 AM The Answer.