Richmond can’t overcome early deficit, falls to Bowie Baysox, 9-7

The Richmond Flying Squirrels fell behind early and a late comeback fell short in a 9-7 loss to the Bowie Baysox on Friday night at The Diamond.

The Flying Squirrels (54-52, 21-16), the Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, fell behind to the Baysox (50-56, 19-18), the Double-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, in the first inning and never recovered.

Trailing by three runs in the bottom of the ninth, the Flying Squirrels loaded the bases with one out against Bowie reliever Nick Richmond (Save, 2). Andy Thomas lifted a sacrifice fly to score Donovan Walton from third base and moved the score to 9-7. Victor Bericoto drove a ball to deep center but Bowie outfielder Donta’ Williams ran it down while crashing into the wall to secure the Bowie win.

The Baysox jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first inning on two Richmond fielding errors. Richmond starter Hayden Birdsong (Loss, 0-2) pitched one inning and allowed three unearned runs, three walks and struck out three batters.

Will Wilson cut the deficit to 3-1 in the bottom of the third with a solo home run to left field. Wilson has homered in back-to-back games in the series and finished the night 3-for-4 with two RBIs.

Bowie captured a four-run advantage when John Rhodes hit a two-run homer in the top of the fourth.

The Flying Squirrels responded with three runs in the bottom of the fifth to close the score to 5-4. Wilson punched an RBI single to center and Ismael Munguia later scored from third base on a groundout.

Later in the inning, Shane Matheny crushed a two-RBI triple against Bowie reliever Tyler Burch (Win, 2-3) and chipped the Richmond deficit to one run.

In the top of the seventh inning, the Baysox stacked four runs to capture a 9-4 advantage. Collin Burns lined an RBI single and Jackson Holliday smashed a two-RBI triple to give the Baysox a four-run lead. Holliday later scored from third on a wild pitch.

After a leadoff walk and a double placed runners at second and third in the eighth, Carter Aldrete scored on a wild pitch and Logan Wyatt lofted a sacrifice fly to move the score to 9-6.

Relievers Jose Cruz and Blake Rivera combined for six consecutive strikeouts from the seventh through the ninth innings.

The Flying Squirrels continue the series against the Baysox on Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 p.m. Right-hander Ryan Murphy (1-7, 4.88) will make the start for Richmond opposed by Bowie right-hander Tyler Wells (0-0, 2.70).

On Saturday, the Flying Squirrels celebrate their second Grateful Fans Night of the season. Fans can arrive early and groove to some classic jam band tunes and the Squirrels will rock tie-dye on-field jerseys that will be auctioned off to benefit the Alzheimer’s Association of Greater Richmond. Plus, fans can enjoy In-Your-Face Fireworks after the game presented by Alzheimer’s Association of Greater Richmond.

Tickets are available online at SquirrelsBaseball.com/Tickets, by phone at 804-359-FUNN (3866) or in person at the Flying Squirrels ticket office.