A lengthy night at The Diamond eventually fell in favor of the Bowie Baysox on Friday night, as Bowie held strong for a wire-to-wire win over the Richmond Flying Squirrels, 9-7. Jackson Holliday matched a franchise record with five hits, including a two-RBI triple.
Bowie brought in the first three runs of the night without using a single hit. Two errors plated three runs, and forced Richmond starter Hayden Birdsong (L, 0-2) to use forty pitches in his only inning of work. John Rhodes pushed Bowie further ahead in the fourth inning with a two-run home run, his 11th of the season.
Patience at the plate was a big factor for Richmond staying in the game early, as the Squirrels drew five walks against Carlos Tavera. Will Wilson homered for the second-consecutive night in the third inning, and the Richmond broke out for three runs in the fifth inning, with RBI from Wilson, Donovan Walton, and Shane Matheny. Tavera was pushed out of the game in the fifth inning, and Tyler Burch (W, 2-3) took the reins for Bowie, firing two scoreless innings before allowing a pair of runs in the eighth inning on a wild pitch and Logan Wyatt sacrifice fly.
While Richmond did inch within one run in the fifth inning, Bowie quickly rebuilt their lead in the seventh. A wild pitch combined with RBI hits from Collin Burns and Jackson Holliday plated four more runs, before Bowie finally settled down. Holliday became the 26th player in Baysox history to collect five hits in a game, and the first since Cedric Mullins hit for the cycle in 2019.
Nick Richmond (Sv, 2) closed the game for Bowie, allowing a run in the ninth on a sacrifice fly.
With Bowie and Richmond trading blow so far in their six-game series, Bowie improves to 50-56 on the season. Bowie will look to take their first lead of the series on Saturday, as Tyler Wells is scheduled to start. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.
