March 29, 2024
Annapolis, US 41 F

After Postponements, Baysox Spin 11th No-Hitter in Team History with Double Header Sweep

Baysox Field

The Bowie Baysox swept their doubleheader with the Harrisburg Senators on Sunday, as dominant pitching and well-timed hitting catapulted them to 4-0 and 2-1 wins, respectively. Bowie pitchers Gerritt Stallings and Morgan McSweeney combined to pitch the 11th no-hitter in franchise history the first game of the afternoon’s slate, and Joey Ortiz highlighted game two with a go-ahead solo home run in the bottom of the sixth inning.

In game one, starter Evan Lee turned in a respectable performance for Harrisburg, marked by his eight strikeouts over five innings. Lee’s (L, 0-1) fourth inning served as his only legitimate hiccup on the afternoon.  Taking control of a hitless game in the bottom of the fourth, the top of the order was able to cobble together a couple of hits, and Joey Ortiz took advantage of a loaded-bases situation to bring in Gunnar Henderson on a ground out and snap the scoreless tie. The Baysox attacked again in the sixth when J.D. Mundy, Ortiz, and Cody Roberts drove in three consecutive runs to pad the lead to four. Henderson was responsible for two of Bowie’s five hits in the game; he immediately stole second and eventually reached home both times.

Stallings opened the day with a blank first inning, but did allow a two-out walk, one of only two baserunners in the game. While Stallings (W, 2-2) walk one more batter in the third inning, he tallied five strikeouts, eight groundouts, and three flyouts. The six innings for Stallings was the longest start of the season from a Baysox pitcher. After 75 pitches, Bowie transferred the game to Morgan McSweeney, and got to fly outs and a groundout from the right-hander to complete the no-no.

The second game was more tightly contested. Connor Loeprich dealt three strong innings to keep Harrisburg scoreless, striking out five batters along the way. Rico Garcia arrived in the fourth to relieve Loeprich, and came out blazing by striking out the side. Garcia, however, ran into trouble with a walk and a pair of hits from the Senators loading the bases in the fifth. Nolan Hoffman was called upon to escape the sticky situation, and drew a 3-2-4 double play to end the inning on just one pitch.

Bowie again waited until the fourth inning to do their damage. Ortiz got a deep double, and scrambled home when Shayne Fontana singled to provide the early 1-0 lead. Harrisburg’s offense had a better showing in the second matchup of the afternoon, tying the game at one in the sixth when K.J. Harrison’s sacrifice fly brought in Jake Alu. Clutch Bowie pitching prevented them from additional scoring later in the game, and they somehow managed to leave six batters stranded over the course of two innings. This tied game was short lived, as Ortiz promptly cranked a solo shot to regain the lead, the only homer of the day.

Hoffman hit the same logjam by loading the bases and allowing a tying run to score, leading Bowie to go with Ryan Conroy (W, 2-1) out of the pen, who struck out the next two batters to again strand the bases loaded. Steven Fuentes started the game for the away team, and controlled the beginning by forcing ten batters to ground out over four innings. Harrisburg opted to platoon the rest of the game, using three more pitchers over the next two innings in a loss.

The Baysox improve to 12-13 on the season with the wins. As Bowie wins their third series of the season, they turn their attention to a six-game road trip against the Reading Fightin’ Phils, starting on Tuesday, May 10. First pitch for the opener of the series is set for 11:00 a.m.

Order your 2022 Baysox tickets online or call 301-464-4865 to purchase over the phone.

 

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