Roberto Lopez began his professional season with a 24-game hitting streak and ended it with another impressive accomplishment.

Lopez hit a go-ahead two-RBI single in the fifth to raise his average on the season to .400 as the Orem Owlz topped the Ogden Raptors, 5-2, on Thursday.

Lopez came into the game hitting .399 and flew out in the first inning. He lifted a sacrifice fly in the third and singled home two runs in the fifth to bring his average to an even .400. He will sit out tomorrow's season finale against the Ogden Raptors.

"I knew I was a little under .400, but I didn't know if the 1-for-2 would put me over the mark," said Lopez, who recorded a hit in 60 of 67 games in his first professional season. "Our coach (Brent Del Chiaro) looked at me, gave me a hug and said congrats. It was a bit of a relief. It feels great."

After hitting .340 during his senior season at the University of Southern California, Lopez was taken by the Angels in the 25th round of the June Draft and began his professional career with a 24-game hitting streak.

"As soon as the college season ended, I was working hard up until the draft. I wanted to get off to a good start. It was a little bit of a transition, so thank God I started good," said Lopez, who hit .413 over his first 30 games.

The San Diego native and Pioneer League Most Valuable Player tops the statistics columns in several offensive categories, including average, hits (108), doubles (28), RBIs (72), runs (68), on-base percentage (.481) and slugging percentage (.668). He is tied for second in the league with teammate Angel Castillo and Helena's Brock Kjeldgaard with 14 home runs. Orem's Luis Jimenez leads the pack with 15.

"The whole time I was trying to stay consistent with everything I did," Lopez said. "Fortunately that ended up being .400. It never thought I would hit .400, but I always had it in my head that nothing is impossible. I just focused on bringing all I had every day."

Alex Silversmith drove in two runs and Ivan Contreras scored twice for the Owlz (27-9). The defending Pioneer League champs will begin their quest for their fourth title in five years Saturday, when they open a best-of-3 playoff series against the Raptors.

"We just need to keep doing the little things right," Lopez said. "I know (Ogden) will be a different team, they're not going to give in."

Chris Scholl (4-2) allowed one hit in one scoreless frame for the win, and Jeremy Thorne threw a perfect ninth for his eighth save. Orem starter Baron Short yielded two runs on two hits while striking out four and walking two over four innings.

Elisaul Pimentel (0-1) gave up three runs on four hits and one walk with one strikeout in three innings. Ogden starter Jonathan Dutton allowed one hit and one walk with three strikeouts in two scoreless innings.

Clay Calfee hit a two-run homer for the Raptors (22-14).