Suffering a taste of their own medicine on Thursday night, the Bowie Baysox blew a lead late to the Somerset Patriots before falling 4-3 in ten innings. Bowie was up by two runs in the ninth inning, but Kade Strowd blew a save opportunity just two batters into the frame, while the Bowie offense collected just one hit after the fourth inning.
A few chances left unrecognized could have helped the Baysox, as they stranded two runners on base in the first and third innings, while Somerset used three singles to take an early 1-0 lead in the first. Tim Susnara gave Bowie a reprieve in the second inning with his first home run of the season, a two-run blast to put them ahead. Shayne Fontana used an infield single in the fourth inning to drive in Bowie’s third run. Somerset’s pitching staff, between Edgar Barclay, Danny Watson, and Jesus Liranzo, held Bowie to only one hit over the final six innings of the game, while striking out 12 batters. Liranzo (W, 1-0) only allowed one baserunner in two innings, while striking out four.
It was a strong appearance for Bowie starter Alex Pham. After a shortened start a week prior, Pham recovered from the early RBI single from Jasson Dominguez to retire 13 consecutive batters, and finish five innings on 81 pitches.
The Bowie bullpen tip-toed around danger all evening, as Tyler Burch stranded the bases loaded in the sixth inning, and a runner at second in the seventh. Kade Strowd left two runners in scoring position in the eighth inning, but he failed to seal the win for Bowie in the ninth. After a four-pitch walk to open the inning, Strowd allowed a game-tying home run to Josh Breaux. After another walk, Strowd was quickly removed in favor of Keagan Gillies, who was able to navigate the game into extras while holding the winning run at third base.
Offensive silence was still present for Bowie in the tenth inning, as they failed to move their free baserunner past second base. Gillies (L, 0-1) was able to draw a popout in the bottom of the tenth, but could not contain an RBI single by Mickey Gasper, giving Somerset the win.
Bowie falls to 44-49 with the loss, their first walk-off loss since May, and fourth of the season. They will try to pull back even in the six-game series on Friday, as Connor Gillispie is scheduled to start, with a 7:05 p.m. first pitch.
