Laramie held Rock Springs to five total hits over two games, as the Rangers swept the Sand Puppies in a doubleheader Tuesday at Cowboy Field.

Laramie (17-11) has won five of its last six games. With the two victories on Tuesday, the Rangers have surpassed their win total from all of the 2019 season.

Both games ended early due to the 10-run mercy rule. Laramie defeated Rock Springs 13-2 and 11-0. Both lasted only 4-and-a-half innings.

Rangers’ manager Aaron Lozano knows his squad has a tendency to play to the level of their competition but he didn’t see that on Tuesday.

“You see teams that maybe you feel like we should go out and beat pretty handily. We lose or we keep it close. We go and play a (Cheyenne) Post 6 or Sheridan, and we lose 2-1, 5-3, or 7-3, whatever it is. Tonight, I think they did a really good job of focusing on themselves, staying within what they can do, and not reacting, but just playing Ranger baseball. That’s what we think is gonna happen every time we play Ranger baseball is we’re gonna go out and get wins.”

Jake Vigen, Tyler Oppie, and Ryan Chamberlain slowed down the Sand Puppies offense.

In the opener, Vigen allowed only three hits over five innings. He gave up two runs, only one earned run, walked four, and struck out three.

The game was tied at 1-1 through the first inning. The Rangers scored four times in both the second and fourth innings. They added two runs in the third.

Diego Medina led the offense with three hits and two RBI’s. Caleb Eaton added two hits, which included a double, and also drove in two runs. Laramie took advantage of five Rock Springs’ errors.

The nightcap saw Oppie and Chamberlain combine to throw 62 pitches in a two-hit shutout. They also finished with eight combined strikeouts and zero walks. Oppie retired the last seven batters he faced in three innings of work and even struck out the side in the third. Chamberlain added two strikeouts in the last two frames. The game took only 1-hour and 15 minutes.

Lozano was happy to get some good pitching performances.

“We are a little bit banged up, and some of these guys, it’s nice to see ‘em out on the mound. Ryan and Tyler, it’s been almost a week since they’ve thrown, so we knew we needed to get ‘em some work, somehow. After the way the first game went, we were confident that we could pull Tyler early, get Ryan his work, and go into this weekend (upcoming), as far as pitching goes, seemingly, pretty healthy.”

After a 2-0 lead for the Rangers in game two, they added four runs in each of the next two frames. Laramie tacked on one more run in the fourth inning.

Aidan Morris led the way at the plate with two hits, which included a double, three RBI’s, three stolen bases and three runs scored. Calvin Webb, Darek Squires, and Brandon Chavez added two hits apiece.

The Rangers return to action Thursday through Saturday at the Post 6 Firecracker in Cheyenne. Laramie will play five games over those three days. They could potentially play a sixth and seventh on Sunday, July 5, depending on where they finish in pool play. The Rangers’ first game is Thursday at 9 a.m. against the NoCo Roughnecks Silver squad from Colorado. The first pitch is scheduled for 9 a.m. at Pioneer Park in Cheyenne.

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