Errors proved costly for the Bowie Baysox on Thursday night, as they dropped the third game of their series with the Altoona Curve 2-1. Bowie struck first in the tightly contested battle, but two errors in the seventh inning accounted for both Curve runs in the loss.
Dueling arms were the highlight of the first four innings, kept scoreless for both. Jared Jones struck out five batters over the opening frames for Altoona, while Justin Armbruester only allowed three baserunners over the same span.
Bowie broke through against Jones in the fifth inning after three consecutive hits, including an RBI knock by Cesar Prieto. Prieto extended his league-leading hit streak to 11-consecutive games with a 3-for-4 performances.
As Armbruester tried to extend into the sixth inning, Altoona put two runners on base to force Bowie into their bullpen. Easton Lucas quelled the threat and stranded the bases loaded through weak contact to keep Bowie ahead.
Conner Loeprich took the seventh inning, but he was instantly in trouble with a leadoff walk and single. A bunt by Drew Maggi turned troublesome when Loeprich sent it wide of first base, allowing the tying run to score. Against the next batter, catcher Ramon Rodriguez misfired a throw to first base on a strikeout to further extend the inning, opening the door for an eventual go-ahead sacrifice fly by Liover Peguero. Both runs against Loeprich (L, 0-1) were unearned.
Despite collecting nine hits, the Bowie offense found little success against Travis MacGregor (W, 2-0) and Noe Toribio (0-1), and failed to get a runner into scoring position after the fifth inning.
The one-run loss is already the third such for the Baysox this season, as they fall to 5-7 on the year. Bowie and Altoona will continue their six-game series on Friday, with the first Pitch scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
