BayBears Strike Back to Take Game Three

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Another hotly-contested match-up between two division rivals on Saturday night at Riverwalk Stadium, but this time it's the BayBears that walked away triumphant with a 4-3 victory over the Montgomery Biscuits.

After the BayBears (54-59, 17-26) tallied first in each of the first two games of the series, the Biscuits (54-59, 21-22) grabbed the first two runs on Saturday. Montgomery hammered out three singles against Matt Torra (7-11) in the first with Jose Lobaton knocking home Cody Cipriano.

In the second, Cody Strait singled and took second on a base hit by Jason Bowers. Pedro Powell attempted a sac bunt but got Bowers thrown out at second. On Pedro Ciriaco's return throw to first, the ball bounced away which brought Strait to the plate to make it 2-0.

Mike Wlodarczyk was solid through 3 2/3 innings for the Biscuits until he gave up an infield hit to Bryan Byrne and hit Cyle Hankerd. The next batter, Ricardo Sosa, blasted a two-bagger to right-center to bring home both men, tying the score.

In the sixth, Sosa came through again with two outs, this time against Heath Rollins (9-11) as he singled home Hankerd who reached on a double. The BayBears would add to their lead in the seventh with Mark Hallberg extending his hit streak to 12 on a double down the right field line and scoring on a base hit by Ciriaco.

It got interesting in the later frames as Torra surrendered a double and a single to start the bottom of the eighth which chased him from the ballgame. Josh Ellis came on and seemingly struck out Jose Lobaton, but an umpire's reversal on the call gave Lobaton new life. With the extra at-bat, Lobaton singled home Fernando Cortez to make it a one-run game. Ellis buckled down from there and wiggled out of trouble.

Daniel Schlereth (S, 4) entered to protect the lead in the bottom of the ninth and coughed up a lead-off double to Powell. Rashad Eldridge reached on an error by Schlereth, but he fanned three consecutive batters to preserve the lead.

The Mobile BayBears have sent nearly 100 players to the major leagues. They battle the Biscuits in game four of their five-game set on Sunday night at 6:05 with Cody Evans (4-11, 5.97) getting the start. The BayBears return to Mobile on Wednesday, August 12 to host the Huntsville Stars at 7:05. For Hank Aaron Stadium tickets, call (251) 479-BEAR or log on to www.mobilebaybears.com.