4/15 - Late Rally Falls Short in 9-6 Defeat

BOWIE, Md. -- The Bowie Baysox staged a late-inning rally, but nine early unanswered runs helped the Erie SeaWolves to a 9-5 victory in front of 989 on a blustery Monday night at Prince George's Stadium.
After a 1-2-3 first inning, the visiting SeaWolves (5-3) broke the deadlock with a five-run second inning, thanks to a Cam Gibson two-run single and a Derek Hill three-run home run. One inning later, a bloop single to shallow center field from Jake Rogers plated the sixth unanswered run.
Gibson tacked on a solo home run to lead off the fourth inning for his 3rd RBI over his first two at-bats. Erie scored two more runs on a Kody Eaves RBI single and a Jose Azocar sacrifice fly to go up 9-0 in the fifth inning.
The string of four consecutive scoring innings for Erie was snapped by RHP Pedro Araujo in the sixth inning, who entered in the fifth for right-handed starter Tyler Herb and allowed one hit and one walk with two strikeouts. Zach Pop struck out the side in a scoreless eighth to close out his two innings, while Tyler Erwin tacked on another scoreless frame in the ninth.
Offensively, the Baysox (3-8) rallied with five runs in the seventh inning, batting around for the first time in 2019. The first three of 10 Bowie batters reached via an Anthony Castro-issued walk. With two outs, Jesmuel Valentín grounded a single to right field to plate Ademar Rifaela for the team's first run.
An Austin Wynns walk set the table for Rylan Bannon, who recorded his third hit of the night--and drove in his team-leading 8th RBI of the season--on a ground-rule double to center field to score Valentin. Yusniel Díaz followed with a RBI single to left field to score Wynns and pull the hosts to within four runs at 9-5.
Bowie plated another run in the bottom of the ninth to bring the final deficit to 9-6. Bannon drove in his second run of the game on a grounder to shortstop Sergio Alcántara, scoring Cole Billingsley-who walked to lead off the frame.
The three-game series continues Tuesday night at 6:35 p.m., when LHP Bruce Zimmermann makes his 2019 home debut against fellow LHP Nick Ramirez. All fans can enjoy $1 hot dogs from the Prince George's Stadium concession stands throughout the game, while fans who purchased a regular-priced box seat in advance (11:59 p.m. on 4/15) can get an additional box seat for $2.