After falling behind out of the gates, Joseph Rosa crossed home on a wild pitch in the bottom of the eighth to complete a wild comeback for the Bowie Baysox, who salvaged the finale of their six-game series with the Somerset Patriots by a 5-3 final.
It was a rocky start for Bowie, as left-handed starter Cade Povich had surrendered three runs prior to Bowie even stepping to the plate. A one-out double from Austin Wells was brought home on a two-run home run from T.J. Rumfield to give the Patriots an early 2-0 edge. That lead would quickly grow, as Josh Breaux launched a solo home run to make it 3-0 Somerset.
After 21 pitches in the troublesome first frame, the southpaw settled in Povich allowed a pair of singles in the second, but then proceeded to retire the next 10 batters in a row, and 12 of his final 13 in order. The only base runner allowed by Povich was a walk to Wells in the sixth, who was eventually erased on a double play ball. In total, Povich struck out eight batters and walked just the one, allowing five hits across his six innings.
Offensively, the Baysox bats were not able to capitalize on early chances, as Bowie loaded the bases in the bottom of the third off a single and two walks against the Patriots’ right-handed starter Yoendrys Gomez, but John Rhodes would bounce into a fielder’s choice to end the frame. Gomez would only last three innings, but after two scoreless inning from left-hander Edgar Barclay, Bowie would load the bases for the second time on the night in the sixth after singles from Coby Mayo and TT Bowens and a walk to Zach Watson. However, the Baysox would once again come up empty, with Billy Cook popping out to end the threat.
After a scoreless 1.2 innings from Nolan Hoffman, with fellow right-hander Kade Strowd picking up the final out in the eighth, the Baysox bats finally roared to life in the eighth against left-hander Lisandro Santos. Mayo led off the frame by lacing a double off the left field wall. With two outs, the rally began with a Zach Watson ground ball that was booted by shortstop Delvin Perez, allowing Mayo to score and getting Bowie on the board at 3-1. A full-count walk to Billy Cook set the stage for Joseph Rosa, who notched a single into right field that brought Watson home to cut the deficit to a single run. Chaos continued to ensue for Bowie, as Donta’ Williams walked to load the bases before Tim Susnara was hit by a pitch to force in the tying run.
Somerset would relieve Santos in favor of right-hander Tanner Myatt. Control was not much better for Myatt, who fired a wild pitch in his first delivery to Jud Fabian that allowed Rosa to rush home and give the Baysox a 4-3 lead. Later in the plate appearance, a passed ball on Breaux led to Williams scoring from third to cap off the five-run frame for the Baysox. All five runs were unearned, but charged to Santos (L, 1-2).
Strowd continued on the mound in the top of the ninth for Bowie. He did allow a pair of singles with two outs, for a run to eventually score on a wild pitch, but Strowd (W, 4-1) struck out Jasson Dominguez looking to end the game, polishing off 1.1 innings to help the Baysox complete the comeback win.
The victory snaps a brief two-game skid for Bowie, improving its overall record to 33-42 on the season. The Baysox start a series in Richmond on Tuesday against the Flying Squirrels, with game one of that six-game set scheduled for a 6:35 first pitch.
