May 19 - Baysox Battle Back, But Lose Seventh-Straight

BOX SCORE

BOWIE, MD – The Bowie Baysox lost a 5-4 stinger to the Hartford Yard Goats on Thursday as the Baysox falter to lose their seventh game in a row. Bowie jumped ahead to a 3-2 advantage after a lengthy first inning, but fell behind on a two-run home run later in the game. After Bowie tied the game at four, Daniel Cope’s solo home run in the ninth inning spoiled Bowie’s chances.

The majority of the evening’s action for Bowie came in the first inning, as all nine batters got a chance to step up to the plate before three outs were recorded. Leadoff man Hudson Haskin and red-hot Gunnar Henderson each hit a single off of Hartford starting pitcher Noah Gotsis, and Jordan Westburg promptly doubled to bring home one run. Joey Ortiz hit a sacrifice fly to bring in another to tie the game at 2 apiece, and J.D. Mundy forced a fielder’s choice to bring home a third to create an early lead. This eruption of offense was enough to chase Gotsis off the mound after a single inning of action. For the next few innings, however, the Bowie bats were more or less held in check before they came storming back in the seventh to create some more run support. Westburg struck again with his second double and RBI of the night to bring in Haskin, which tied the game at 4-4.

The Yard goats got off to just as hot of a first inning as the home team, going almost as many batters deep as the Baysox with seven. Ezequiel Tovar scrambled for a double against Bowie’s Conner Loeprich, and Jack Blomgren did the work by taking advantage of a bases-loaded situation with a two out single. They reemerged in the fourth, as Brenton Doyle’s two run shot gave Hartford the lead back after a short-lived Bowie lead. Bowie’s pitching looked tip top for the next three innings, right up until the top of the ninth when catcher Daniel Cope hit a leadoff solo home run to regain the lead late in the game. This shut the door on Bowie’s chances to snap their losing streak, as they fell short on their attempt at a comeback in the bottom of the inning.

Following the short start from Gotsis, Hartford got strong relief from Fineas Del Bonta-Smith, who tossed three scoreless innings. Jared Biddy tossed the following three innings, but did allow an unearned run on Westburg’s double in the seventh, while PJ Poulin earned the win with a scoreless eighth, and Stephen Jones logged the save with a perfect ninth.

Loeprich turned in a serviceable day. He recovered from the two runs in the first inning to prevent the Yard Goats from dealing further damage, but later allowed the Doyle home run, and Ryan Conroy arrived to relieve Loeprich in the fifth. He’d only go on to see four batters, as Noah Denoyer (L, 0-1) was tasked with the sixth inning onwards. Outside of the solo homer to Cope, he did a solid job by recording five strikeouts over four innings of action.

As Bowie continues to slide, they will try to rebound wherever possible on Friday, as the two side continue their six-game series, with the first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at Prince George’s Stadium.