Early Power and Prime Pitching Secures Bowie Win

BOX SCORE
AKRON, OH – A tension-filled night at Canal Park on Saturday, the Bowie Baysox were able to break their brief two-game skid against the Akron RubberDucks. Thanks to an early home run by Jud Fabian, Bowie never trailed, and used strong pitching to hold on to a 4-2 win. All six runs in the game were scored in the first inning.

After back-to-back walks to open the night, Jud Fabian took Akron starter Tommy Mace deep to left field for a three-run home run before Bowie was even put out. After an error and hit-by-pitch extended the first inning, Greg Cullen added to the Bowie lead with a single.

Despite throwing 40 pitches in the first inning, Mace (L, 4-5) stayed in the game for the second, and kicked off eight-consecutive scoreless innings for the Akron staff. After Mace was lifted during the fourth inning, Tyler Thornton, Davis Sharpe, and Jordan Jones took the remaining 5 1/3 innings, keeping Bowie away from home the entire time.

Bowie still threatened throughout the night, as they put seven more runners into scoring position after the first inning, and had a runner thrown out at home in the second inning. Bowie left 11 runners on base for the second-consecutive night, while going 2-for-14 at the plate with runners in scoring position.

After his offense had grabbed the 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning, Connor Gillispie climbed the hill for his third start of the road trip. After two strikeouts and a walk, Gillispie saw his scoreless streak of 14 1/3 consecutive innings end when Aaron Bracho smacked a two-run home run to right-center field. Akron’s offense ran into some of the same roadblocks as Bowie’s, thanks to five strong innings from Gillispie (W, 7-4). The Bowie right-hander tied a season high with seven strikeouts, stranding two different runners at third base across the night.

In relief, Bowie got a pair of scoreless innings each from Keagan Gillies and Nolan Hoffman (Sv, 7).

With the win, Bowie improves to 61-64 on the season. With 13 games remaining in the 2023 campaign, the Baysox are still just one game behind the Richmond Flying Squirrels for a playoff spot in the Southwest Division. Bowie and Akron will play one final time in 2023 on Sunday at Canal Park, and over the first 20 games of the season, each team has won ten. The season rubber match on Sunday will start at 6:05 p.m.