The Grand Junction Jackalopes (30-36) split a home-and-home series with the Rocky Mountain Vibes (33-32) last week, dropping two out of three games on the road before grabbing the series' final two contests to salvage the series.
The Jackalopes' high-powered offense was once again on display last week, as the club compiled double-digit runs in four different contests: Tuesday's 12-10 loss, Wednesday's 17-14 victory, Friday's 16-14 defeat and Sunday's 18-15 win in the series finale.
The lone contest from last week's series without either team producing double-digit runs was Saturday's affair, a 4-3 win by the Jackalopes. Former San Francisco State Gator Nathan Shinn earned the start for Grand Junction and allowed only three runs across 5 2/3 innings in the outing, and the Jackalopes' bullpen was able to stand tall for the remainder of the contest to grab the low-scoring win.
Grand Junction deployed uber-talented reliever Reese Miller four times last week, including in all thee Jackalopes wins. The Pioneer League's ERA leader pitched Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, allowing no runs on five hits across five frames on the week. Miller lowered his season ERA to only 0.46 over 39 1/3 innings on the year after the scoreless outings; the former West Texas A&M closer is one of only two players league wide -- alongside Oakland's Carson Lambert -- with a qualified ERA under 2.00 on the season.
At the plate, second-year Jackalope Calyn Halvorson continued his hot streak with an eye-popping 12 hits last week. The native of Guthrie, Oklahoma, has now compiled 29 hits in his first 19 contests back with the Jackalopes after a short stint in Illinois with the Gateway Grizzlies of the Frontier League. Halvorsen's .433 batting average is 30 points higher than the team's top qualified batter, utility man Spence Coffman, who's hitting .401 on the year.
The only batter who had a stronger week at the plate than Halvorson was leadoff man Zeb Roos. The former Wofford Terrier collected 13 hits and drove in nine runs last week, both team high-water marks. Roos now boasts a 1.112 OPS to go along with his .361 batting average, .494 on-base percentage and .619 slugging percentage. Thanks to premium speed on the base paths, the rookie leads Grand Junction in extra base hits, 38, and stolen bases, also 38, in his first professional campaign.
At 7-11 in the second half, the Jackalopes sit three games back of the Idaho Falls Chukars in the hunt for the Pioneer League's final postseason berth with just more than on month remaining in the regular season. The team will hit the road this week for a six-game set with the Boise Hawks (36-30). Their penultimate home series of the season is slated for the following week, a six-game set with the Ogden Raptors (35-30).