The Flying Squirrels (37-54) leaned on a seven-run fourth inning, and managed to hang on for the 13-11 win on Friday at Prince George’s Stadium.
Birthday boy C.J. Hinojosa collected four hits – two in the epic fourth inning – to lead the offense past a stubborn Bowie Baysox (39-52) club. Brandon Bednar drilled his first Double-A homer and collected three hits to back starting pitcher Sam Coonrod in the win. Tyler Mizenko earned the save by getting the final out in the ninth after Rodolfo Martinez was removed due to a comebacker.
Quincy Latimore placed Bowie ahead in the second inning with a solo homer run off Squirrels starter Sam Coonrod. It was the 10th homer of the season for the veteranLatimore and his second against the Squirrels this year. Coonrod quickly rebounded from the long ball and set down the next three hitters to end theinning.
Richmond threatened to tie the game in the third against Baysox hurler Brandon Barker. Steve Lerudsailed a single to right and Carlos Moncrief worked a walk to place two runners aboard. Barked then induced a ground out and line out to strand the pair onbase. The Bowie right used just 35 pitches through three innings, but would not make it out of the fourth.
The Squirrels pounced on Barker in the fourth and plated a season-high seven runs in the inning. C.J. Hinojosa doubled to start the assault and Hunter Cole singled him home with one out to tie the game, 1-1. Ryder Jones followed with a double and Brandon Bednar chopped home a pair of runs with a double over the third baseman’s head. The inning rolled along with Steve Lerud being hit by a pitch Carlos Moncrief adding an RBI single for a 4-1 lead. Christian Arroyo made it 6-1 with a two-run single, ending the night for Barker.Barker was pulled with just one out in the fourth for reliever Jon Keller. Hinojosa capped the scoring with his second hit of the inning, a single into center.
The Baysox were resilient against Coonrod continuing to chip away at the lead through the middle innings. Joey Terdoslavich walked to open the fourth and scored on abase hit. Bowie added two more runs in the fifth and another pair in the sixth, pulling to within a two, 8-6. Coonrod was removed with runners on base in the sixth inning and finished the outing with 5 1/3 innings. The righty allowed six runs (four earned) on eight hits in the win. Jose Casilla entered in the sixth and tossed 1 1/3 of relief.
Both bullpens struggled to keep the game under wraps. Richmond plated three more runs on the top of the seventh against Parker Bridewell to regain an 11-6 advantage. Hunter Cole opened the inning with a double and scored on Ryder Jones’ base hit to right. After a double play, Steve Lerud worked a walk and Carlos Moncrief sailed an RBI double off the top of the centerfield wall. Seven Dugger followed with a run-scoring triple for an 11-6 lead.
Bowie returned serve in the bottom of the seventh with three runs of their own. Casilla walked Austin Wynns to star the inning and Adrian Marin and Chance Sisco connected on RBIhits. Preston Claiborne then entered the game and induced a ground ball to short that was misplayed by Hinojosa to plate a run for a 11-9 contest.
The Baysox pulled to within one, 11-0 with a an unearned run in the eighth inning. Claiborne earned a hold by pitching 1 1/3 innnings of relief. He allowed one unearned run on a hit to take the game into the ninth.
The Squirrels picked up a pair of insurance runs in the ninth to go ahead 13-10. Steve Lerud smacked an RBI double and scored on a fielding error by Drew Dosch. The Squirrels called upon Rodolfo Martinez to close the game in the ninth. Martinez allowed a walk and single and was removed with two outs after taking a line drive off the body. Tyler Mizenko finished the game to earn his second save of the season.
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Chris Graham
