COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo."Trailing 2-0 in the eighth inning, the Reno Aces rallied for five runs in the frame to capture a come-from-behind, 5-2 victory on Wednesday at Security Service Field.
Reno sent 10 men to the plate in the eighth, using four singles, a double and two walks to tie the game and ultimately take the lead. The win brings the Aces back to .500 on the road trip with one left to play.
Aces starter Tony Barnette allowed two runs on seven hits over 4.1 innings pitched. Barnette walked three and struck out one. Esmerling Vasquez came on and tossed 1.2 scoreless innings, and Leo Rosales worked a spotless seventh. Jon Coutlangus then came on and delivered two innings of shutout baseball to close the door. Rosales (1-0) picked up the victory, and Coutlangus (1) was credited with the save, the first in franchise history.
Sky Sox starter Franklin Morales was sharp, allowing just two hits and no runs in his six innings of work. Randy Flores (0-1) surrendered three runs in the eighth and was tagged with the loss.
Both offenses were dormant through the first three innings, as Barnette and Morales battled pitch-for-pitch. In the fourth, Barnette worked out of a bases-loaded, nobody-out jam, but an inning later, the Sky Sox finally broke through. Four singles and a sacrifice bunt in the frame resulted in two runs and a Sky Sox lead.
That margin stood until the eighth, when Reno's bats came to life. After a lead-off single by Trent Oeltjen, Alex Romero followed with a single to right-center, scoring Oeltjen and putting the Aces on the board. Later in the inning, Josh Wilson singled home a run to tie the score at two apiece. But Reno wasn't finished there. Rusty Ryal hit a two-run double that snuck just inside the bag at third to give the Aces their first lead at 4-2, and then Oeltjen, who led-off the inning, came up again and singled home the fifth Reno run of the inning.
Pitching with the lead, Coutlangus tossed two scoreless frames for his first save since 2006.
The Aces and Sky Sox round out the series on Thursday from Security Service Field. Reno will send Seth Etherton (1-0, 1,80 ERA) to the bump, and Colorado Springs will counter with Josh Fogg (0-0, 6.23 ERA). First pitch is set for 10:05 a.m. PT and can be heard live on Fox Sports Radio 1450.
