Seven strikeouts in four innings from starter Chayce McDermott was not enough, as The Bowie Baysox dropped an early affair to the Erie SeaWolves by a 6-2 final on Tuesday afternoon.
The long ball plagued the Baysox all day long, but particularly so in the top of the first inning. The visiting SeaWolves took charge from the opening frame as they swatted a pair of home runs. Colton Keith had a two-run shot following a lead-off walk to Andrew Navigato. Grant Witherspoon added on a solo shot later in the frame, with McDermott struggling to find the zone early on.
However, after the 28-pitch first inning, Bowie’s right-handed starter would settle in, compiling six of his seven strikeouts in his final three frames of work, walking just one and only allowing a single hit the remainder of his outing.
The Baysox added on a run in the bottom of the fourth inning, as Coby Mayo led off the frame with a walk, before scoring on a Ramon Rodriguez single. After a scoreless inning of relief from the rehabbing right-hander Mychal Givens, another rehabbing Orioles reliever in Dillon Tate took the mound for Bowie. The SeaWolves would claw the conceded run back with a solo home run in the top of the sixth by Dillon Dingler – Erie’s third home run of the game.
The Baysox responded in the bottom half in a similar fashion to their first run of the game. Mayo once again led off the inning with a walk, but this time was sent home via a sacrifice fly from John Rhodes, shrinking the SeaWolves’ lead to 4-2. Bowie had runners at second and first with one down later in the frame, but Rodriguez bounced into a 5-3 double play to the third baseman Keith, ending the threat.
Erie immediately seized momentum in the top half of the seventh, as the SeaWolves notched three hits and a pair of runs in the frame between right-handers Dillon Tate and Xavier Moore, with Wenceel Perez driving home both runs on a 2-RBI single to make the score 6-2 in favor of Erie.
It was a successful day for a SeaWolves bullpen that has struggled throughout most of 2023 thus far, as the Baysox managed just the one run on four hits in four frames against relievers RJ Petit and Adam Wolf.
The loss drops Bowie’s record to 6-14 on the season. The Baysox enter Tuesday night in last place in the Southwest division – seven games out of first place and two games behind Erie. Bowie and the SeaWolves will look to continue their six-game series at Prince George’s Stadium on Wednesday night, with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m. ET.
