The Flying Squirrels finished the first road trip of the year with a 12-2 rout of the Baysox (8-6) on Thursday night at Prince George’s Stadium. Richmond (6-8) connected on 10 hits and utilized seven solid innings from starting pitcherAndrew Suarez in the win. Flying Squirrels second baseman Miguel Gomez collected five RBIs on three hits in the rain-shortened eight-inning affair. Richmond spit the series, 2-2, and will return home on Friday to begin a six-game homestand. Click here for a full promotional preview.
Gomez put the finishing touches on the route by drilling a three-run homer to right field in the eighth inning off reliever Jon Keller. The Squirrels second baseman finished with five RBIs in the game before the contest was cut short in the top of the ninth inning due to rain.
Bowie struck first when Cedric Mullins led off theinning with a bunt single up the third base line. Mullins then advanced to second on a seeing-eye single to right field. Suarez picked up a double play, moving Mullins to third base and Aderlin Rodriguez made it a 1-0 Baysox lead on a base hit to center field. Bowie added another hit before Suarez punched out D.J. Stewart to end the inning.
Suarez was not phased by the four hits allowed in the first inning. The lefty worked around a two-out error in the second and picked up his second double play ball of the night to end the third. The Squirrels turned three double plays behind Suarez in his third start of the season.
The Squirrels managed to provide a pair of runs for Suarez to take a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning. Slade Heathcott roped a single to right field and scored with two outs when ChrisShaw smashed a hard ground ball by first base, all the way to the right field wall. The play was ruled an error and Shaw came around to score when Hunter Cole followed with an RBI double to take the lead.
The Richmond attack continued in the next two innings, plating three runs in the fifth and four more in the sixth. Brandon Bednar, Miguel Gomez and Chris Shaw all connected on two-outsingles in the fifth, for a 5-1 lead. After Bowie’s Austin Wynns homered in the bottom of the fifth inning, Richmond piled on four more runs and ended the outing for David Hess in the sixth. With the bases loaded to start the sixth, Heathcott roped an RBI single and Bednar brought home a run a fielder’s Choice. Gomez and Shaw would cap the scoring with RBI singles to take a 9-2 lead.
Pitching with the lead, Suarez (1-2) maintained control and lasted seven innings to earn the win. The lefty allowed two runs on eight hits in the victory. He struck out four andwalked three on 86 pitches.
Carlos Alvarado relieved Suarez in the eighth and struck out the side around a pair of hits. The game was then called in the top of the ninth due to rain. s
The Flying Squirrels return to The Diamond and begin their second homestand of the season on Friday against Reading. RHP Sam Coonrod is scheduled to start for Richmond against the Fightin Phils RHP Drew Anderson. Season tickets, mini plans and group outings are available by contacting the Flying Squirrels box office at 804-359-3866 or online at www.squirrelsbaseball.com
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Chris Graham
