In their first meeting since 2021, the Billings Mustangs (22-18) crushed the Grand Junction Jackalopes (15-25) in a 17-2 series opener at Dehler Park on Friday night.

The teams did not play each other in each of the past three seasons, but the Mustangs were more than ready to welcome them to Billings as they ran away with the game in the middle innings and never looked back.

Hudson Boncal continued a string of strong starting pitching for the Mustangs as he limited a lethal Jackalopes offense to just one run over five innings while striking out a season high eight batters.

Meanwhile, the offense showed no mercy to Grand Junction as they scored in six of the eight innings, including an eight-run sixth.

Charlie Muniz and Jack O'Dowd each hit a three run homer in the game to help the Mustangs to their fourth consecutive win.

For O'Dowd, it was homerun number twenty-one on the year, tying him with John Michael Faile in 2023 for the franchise single season record in a short season (100 games or less).

The Mustangs will look to continue their playoff push on Saturday night against the Jackalopes. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 PM MT and their will be a post game Homerun Derby following the game.