Vaun Brown’s three-RBI night keys Richmond in 6-2 win over Bowie

A big offensive night by Vaun Brown and steady pitching propelled the Richmond Flying Squirrels to a 6-2 victory over the Bowie Baysox on Wednesday night at The Diamond.

Richmond (40-37, 7-1), the Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, scored four of its six runs with two outs and posted 11 strikeouts against Bowie (33-44, 2-6), the Double-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. The Flying Squirrels have gone 13-2 in their last 15 games since June 18 and have notched four consecutive wins.

The Baysox opened the scoring in the first inning when Billy Cooked lofted a sacrifice fly to score Jud Fabian from third, moving Bowie to a 1-0 lead. It was an unearned run for starter Parker Dunshee in a four-strikeout performance over three innings.

Richmond quickly snatched the lead with two runs in the bottom of the first. Andy Thomas skied a sacrifice fly to even the score and Logan Wyatt drew a bases-loaded walk to push the Flying Squirrels ahead, 2-1.

In the bottom of the fourth, Brown drove in two runs with a single against Bowie starter Chayce McDermott (Loss, 5-6) and extended the Richmond lead to 4-1.

Shane Matheny blasted a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth to give Richmond a 5-1 advantage. Matheny has homered in back-to-back games in the series and has totaled three home runs with the Flying Squirrels.

With two outs and a runner at second in the sixth, Brown zipped an RBI single to center field, upping the Flying Squirrels’ lead to 6-1. Brown finished the night 2-for-4 with three RBIs and has driven in nine runs over his last six games.

Bowie broke its scoring drought in the seventh with a solo home run from TT Bowens, closing the score to 6-2.

Reliever Nick Zwack (Win, 5-5) racked up six strikeouts over four innings with three hits and one run allowed. Ben Madison collected two strikeouts over two scoreless innings in his home debut with the Flying Squirrels.

The Flying Squirrels take on the Baysox Thursday night with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m. Right-hander Spencer Bivens (1-2, 5.57) will make his first start of the year for the Flying Squirrels opposed by Bowie right-hander Carlos Tavera (2-4, 5.81).

On Thursday, the Flying Squirrels will host UVA Night and will have five-dollar general admission tickets for UVA students and faculty who show their school ID. In-Your-Face Fireworks will fire after the game presented by YMCA 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.