The Bowie Baysox scored a run in the ninth and 10th innings to escape with a 7-6 thriller over the Binghamton Rumble Ponies in front of 2,462 at Prince George’s Stadium Wednesday afternoon.
Bowie (40-20) jumped out to a first-inning lead for the second straight. A single and two hit-by-pitches loaded the bases for Jesse Valentin, who lifted a sacrifice fly to left field to easily score Cedric Mullins. Gavin Cecchini tied the game two pitches into the second inning with his third home run of the season to left field.
The hosts immediately answered with some two-out production in the bottom half of the second inning. Ryan McKenna took the first pitch from Tommy Wilson and sent a triple to the LF corner, past a diving Michael Paez. T.J. Nichting, who hustled into second base with a bloop double and went to third base on a groundout, trotted home to give Bowie a 2-1 lead.
The Baysox scored a run in their third consecutive inning, increasing their advantage to 3-1. Zach Jarrett lined a two-out single to right field to score Brett Cumberland, who started the rally with a single before a Mason McCoy walk.
Binghamton (26-37) tied the game with two outs in the top of the fourth, but Bowie regained the leading by scoring in the fourth straight frame. Ryan Ripken blooped a two-out RBI triple past a diving Barrett Barnes to score Mullins and Valentin. The first baseman has driven in four runs in the three-game series and has hit .417 (10-for-24) with five multi-hit games in his past six games played.
The Ponies again fought back and scored in four straight innings to re-take the lead, capped by a Patrick Mazeika home run in the seventh inning off LHP Luis Gonzalez. RHP Cristian Alvarado tossed a pair of key scoreless innings, keeping the Ponies off the board and the Baysox in the game.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, the hosts struck and tied the game once again. Cumberland launched a one-out solo home run to deep left-center field off Joshua Torres for the catcher’s third long ball of the season.
One inning later, after Francisco Jimenez tossed a scoreless 10th inning, Mullins reached on a bunt single down the third base line to advance Nichting to third base. One batter later, McKenna drove in his second run of the game on a bunt down the first base line. Nichting sped home to beat the throw from first baseman Patrick Mazeika.
The final home series of the 2019 regular season begins Thursday night at 7:05 p.m., when LHP Zac Lowther (12-7, 2.77 ERA) faces RHP Pedro Vasqiez (7-3, 2.69 ERA) and the Altoona Curve, Double-A Affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
