August 26 - Bowie Wins Bullpen Battle for Third-Straight 

BOX SCORE

BOWIE, MD – A day filled with pitching challenges, the Bowie Baysox prevailed on Friday night, taking down the Altoona Curve 4-1. A solo home run from each side was the only scoring until the sixth inning, while Bowie benefitted from another strong start by Justin Armbruester. Bowie pitchers held Altoona to just three hits.
Matching his feat from the day prior, Connor Norby gave Bowie the early edge with a solo home run in the first inning. Thanks to a pair of sacrifice flies, it was Norby’s third home run in his last four at bats, and his 12th on the season.
Bowie’s offense was shut down by Luis Ortiz following the long shot, as Ortiz struck out a season-high ten batters into the sixth inning, only allowing three more hits. When Ortiz (L, 5-9) tried to stretch into the sixth inning, Bowie instantly plated two runs starting when Norby singled to bring in Colton Cowser on an error, and it ended when Joey Ortiz picked up an RBI double. Cowser collected another RBI on a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning against Colin Selby. The only Altoona pitcher to work scoreless was JC Flowers, who spun a scoreless eighth.
Working with the early lead, Justin Armbruester opened with three scoreless innings and three strikeouts, but allowed a game-tying home run to Malcom Nunez in the fourth. Armbruester tried to work through the sixth inning, but he was forced to leave after two walks and two outs.
Griffin McLarty stranded the two walks in the sixth inning, but he loaded the bases in the seventh before being himself removed. McLarty (W, 2-3) was bailed by Tyler Burch (Sv, 2) who carried the remainder of the game, allowing only one walk over 2 1/3 innings.
The win keeps Bowie in first place into Saturday, as they return to .500 on the season at 59-59 and 32-17 in the second half. Bowie will have a chance to win the series with Altoona on Saturday, with the first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m.