A strong contender for one of the most unpredictable games of the season, the Bowie Baysox stunned the Altoona Curve on Friday night by overcoming a five-run deficit to win their third game of the week, 7-6 in 10 innings. Bowie used a strong contingent of relievers to cauterize an early wound from Altoona batting, while their offense plated all their runs after the fifth inning.
The first note of the uncharacteristic nature of the contest, Chayce McDermott turned in his shortest start of the season, walking a pair of batters and allowing a trio of runs in the first inning, while only recording two outs. Nolan Hoffman was retrieved from the bullpen, and allowed a run in the second inning, but was able to toss a scoreless third.
Walks were a key theme in the contest, as the two teams combined for 15 total free passes, a season high in a Bowie game. Xavier Moore was the leader in the contest, as the Bowie right-hander walked a career-high six batters over 2.1 innings. Despite the high walk total, Moore only allowed one run. Ofreidy Gomez spun a season-high 2.2 innings, but he was tagged with his first run of the season when Jacob Gonzalez smacked a solo home run.
The Bowie comeback began in the sixth inning after Altoona got five scoreless innings from 20-year-old starter Anthony Solometo. Jud Fabian greeted the first reliever with a mammoth solo home run to left field, his second of the week. Bowie added two more runs in the seventh inning thanks to back-to-back RBI doubles by Fabian and Coby Mayo, making it a 6-3 game entering the eighth inning.
Another leadoff home run opened the eighth inning, as Joseph Rosa drilled his third home run of the season. A couple of base hits set up Anthony Servideo for a game-tying knock, as the left-hander delivered a two-RBI single to center field.
Conner Loeprich spared Bowie from a walk-off loss by stranding a potential winning run at second base in the ninth, as Bowie embarked on their seventh extra-inning game of the season. In the tenth against Tahnaj Thomas (L, 2-2), John Rhodes lined a go-ahead single off of the glove of Altoona’s shortstop to give Bowie their first lead of the night. Thanks to a play at the plate between both Loeprich (W, 2-1) and Billy Cook to cut down Altoona’s potential tying run, the Bowie reliever was able to secure the win.
The stunning win is Bowie’s fourth extra-inning victory of the season, as they improve to 30-37 on the year. With three wins on the week secured, Bowie will try to win their third consecutive series over the weekend, needing to just take one of the two games. The first pitch for Saturday’s game is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
