A three-run ninth inning rocketed the Richmond Flying Squirrels to a 9-6 win in a back-and-forth game against the Bowie Baysox on Sunday afternoon at Prince George’s Stadium.
The Flying Squirels (63-68, 23-39) won four-of-the-six games against the Baysox (65-67, 38-25) in their final road trip of the regular season.
Will Wilson began the ninth-inning rally with a solo home run on the first pitch from Hector Perez (Loss, 0-3) to push Richmond in front, 7-6. It was Wilson’s ninth home run of the year with the Flying Squirrels.
Back-to-back hitters reached after the homer and Diego Rincones drove in a run with a run with a pinch-hit single. Riley Mahan padded the lead to 9-6 with an RBI single in the next at-bat.
Nick Avila (Save, 3) set down the Baysox in order with a flyout and two strikeouts to close out the Richmond win.
Bowie starter Grayson Rodriguez started the third inning with three consecutive walks to load the bases. He answered with back-to-back strikeouts but Brandon Martorano scorched a single to center field that scored two runs.
Wilson followed with an RBI single in the next at-bat and Casey Schmitt brought Martorano home with a single to give Richmond a 4-0 advantage.
Richmond starter Keaton Winn held the Baysox scoreless over 4.1 innings with two hits and one walk allowed. Winn totaled five strikeouts in his start and has thrown five punchouts in each of his last three outings.
Reliever Ofelky Peralta struck out three of the six total batters faced over 1.2 scoreless frames.
With the bases loaded and one out in the seventh, John Gavin was called for a balk and Zach Watson scored from third base to break the shutout. Toby Welk hit a two-RBI double to close the score to 4-3.
Richmond tacked on two runs in the top of the eighth inning to extend its advantage to 6-3. Schmitt scored from third on a wild pitch and Jacob Heyward drove an RBI single to left field to put the Flying Squirrels ahead by three runs. Heyward finished the day 3-for-4 with a walk, an RBI and one run.
The Baysox fought back to tie the game at 6-6 with a three-run eighth inning. Andrew Daschbach scored from second on a Richmond fielding error and a wild pitch from Clay Helvey (Win, 1-1) brought home Darrel Hernaiz to make it a one-run game. Toby Welk reached on a fielder’s choice and Rhoades crossed home to tie the game.
The Flying Squirrels are off Monday before starting their final regular season homestand against the Erie SeaWolves from Sept. 13-18. On Tuesday, it is 50s/60s Night at The Diamond and the first 1,000 fans ages 15 and older will go home with a Fauxback Squirrel bobblehead presented by Pepsi. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. Right-handed pitcher Matt Frisbee (5-9, 5.23) will start for Richmond opposed by right-hander Sawyer Gipson-Long (2-2, 4.65) for Erie.
Tickets are available online at SquirrelsBaseball.com/Tickets, by phone at 804-359-3866 or in person at the Flying Squirrels ticket office.
The Flying Squirrels will host their first playoff game since 2014 on Thursday, September 22 at The Diamond. Tickets for all potential playoff games in Richmond are on sale now at SquirrelsBaseball.com.
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