The Bowie Baysox (21-18) swept a doubleheader from the Richmond Flying Squirrels (20-18) in front of 5,476 at The Diamond on Wednesday night. Bowie bagged game one, 5-3, and came back to win game two, 7-4.
Bowie grabbed the lead in game one with back-to-back home runs to left field off of Richmond lefty Adalberto Mejia. The home runs were preceded by a single with one out from Ronald Bermudez. David Adams followed and launched a no-doubt two-run shot for a 2-0 lead. Michael Ohlman then stepped in and whacked a solo-home run for a 3-0 advantage. Both home runs were the first of the year for that respective batter.
Baysox right-hander Matt Bischoff held off the Squirrels for the first three innings. However, they broke through for their first run of the ballgame in the fourth. Bischoff walked Jarrett Parker to start the inning. Bischoff recorded the first two outs of the inning, with Parker moving to second base on a ground out. Ricky Oropesa then put Richmond on the board with a single to left-center field.
Mejia gave the run right back in the top of the fifth inning as he conceded a double off the left-field wall to David Freitas to open the inning. Sharlon Schoop followed and laid down a sacrifice-bunt. Mejia fielded and threw wildly past first base. The error allowed Freitas to score for a 4-1 lead, although the run later became earned when Niuman Romero flew out to right field.
Bischoff (2-2) departed to the win after five innings. He conceded just the lone run on three hits. He did walk four and struck out just one, but won for the second time on the season.
Mejia (1-3) came back to work a scoreless sixth inning, but left to the loss at that point. He fell for the third time, surrendering four earned runs on seven hits. He walked none and struck out two.
The Squirrels made game one interesting with a pair of runs off right-hander Luis Ayala in the sixth inning. Oropesa sparked the uprising with his second hit of the evening – a single. Ryan Lollis followed and banged an RBI triple to right-center field. Eliezer Zambrano then made it a one-run ballgame with a single slapped to left field.
Richmond got no closer however, as Bowie scored a run off right-hander Edwin Quirarte in the top of the seventh inning to cap the scoring. Bowie closer Oliver Drake then came on to strike out the side and earn his seventh save of the season in the bottom of the inning.
Mario Lisson gave the Squirrels their first lead of the series in the bottom of the first inning in game two. Tyler Graham was aboard courtesy of a Jason Gurka walk when Lisson took the Bowie lefty deep to right-center field. Lisson’s fifth of the year, a two-run shot, put Richmond on top, 2-1.
The Baysox made it a one-run ballgame with their first tally against right-hander Austin Fleet in the second innings. Dariel Alvarez cracked a triple through the alley in left-center field to start the inning. Chih-Hsien Chiang followed and knocked in Alvarez with a sacrifice-fly to left field.
Bowie then knotted the ballgame, 2-2, with another run in the third. Freitas lined a double into right-center field with one out. Niuman Romero then yanked a double up the right-field line to level the ledger.
A two-out rally put Bowie in control of game two. Fleet recorded the first two outs of the inning, but Schoop singled back through the middle. Romero followed with his third hit of the game, a single to right-center field. Christian Walker then blasted his eighth home run of the year to left field. The three-run blast put the Baysox firmly in front, 5-2.
Fleet (3-1) departed immediately following the home run, doomed to his first loss of the season. He was charged with five earned runs on eight hits over 4 2/3 innings. He didn’t issue a walk and struck out three.
The two teams traded runs in the sixth inning before Alvarez capped the scoring with an RBI single in the seventh inning that plated Walker.
Right-hander Juan Morillo (2-0) earned the win in relief, tossing 1 2/3 innings. Gurka was not eligible, having worked just four innings.
The finale of the four-game series is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. at The Diamond on Thursday night. Richmond RHP Kyle Crick (1-1, 4.34) will make the start against Bowie LHP Jake Pettit (1-3, 6.81). The Flying Squirrels Pregame Warmup begins at 6:05 p.m. on Sports Radio 910 and SportsRadio910.com.
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