Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly reported the number of games Ogden was scheduled to play in Colorado Springs during this road trip. The Standard-Examiner regrets the error.

At one point trailing 16-4, the Ogden Raptors somehow managed to bring the potential tying run to the plate Tuesday in Colorado Springs to open their three-game series against the surging Rocky Mountain Vibes.

But that chance was only for one at-bat and the Vibes otherwise survived, claiming an 18-15 victory in the first of nine consecutive games between the squads.

It was bad from the start for Ogden (36-25, 5-8). Starter Pablo Arevalo faced just two batters before exiting (one hit, one walk), and Marshall Shill couldn’t stop the Vibes (29-31, 9-4) from there, allowing six runs (two of them Arevalo’s) on seven hits to dig a 6-1 hole through two innings. A Jacob Barfield three-run homer highlighted things for RMV at the plate.

It got worse in the fifth when Rocky Mountain tagged usual Ogden starter Ed Baram for six runs in his lone frame, with Stephen Wilmer’s two-run homer punctuating matters.

Damian Henderson, a usual designated hitter/outfielder who may sometimes pitch, didn’t fare much better in the sixth, walking three batters and giving up a two-RBI double to Jake McMurray (who was one of five Vibes to total at least three hits) to make the score 16-4.

Somehow the Raptors made it a game. Nick Ultsch socked a two-run homer in the seventh to get things going. In the eighth, Cam Phelts doubled in a run, and Ultch and Logan Williams drove in two more to get it to 16-12.

The Vibes got insurance against new Raptors reliever Mason Hoover, recently graduated from Seattle U, when Jacob Barfield and Wilmer hit consecutive RBI doubles for an 18-12 mark.

Ogden made it exciting in the ninth. Dane Tofteland hit a solo homer with one out, his eighth of the season. Phelts singled with two outs and scored on an Ultsch triple, and Reese Alexiades singled home Ultsch to make it 18-15. Juan Teixeira singled to bring up Williams as the potential tying run, but RMV reliever Alexis Cedano kept it there, getting Williams to fly out to center field.

The home team outhit the Raptors 21-19. Ultsch drove in five for Ogden and he, Phelts and Teixeira each had three hits.

Newsletter