By Meredith Perri/Field Reporter
With a runner on first and no out in the top of the seventh inning, Casey Gillaspie (Wichita State University) came up to bat with the opportunity to tie up the game against the Bourne Braves. On the first pitch he saw, Gillaspie, who already had one towering home run in the game, attempted to do just that as he sent a ball deep into right field.
Although Bourne right fielder Mason Robbins (University of Southern Mississippi) could not make a play on the ball, Gillaspie’s hit fell just inside of the fence, putting runners on second and third and keeping the Falmouth Commodores in a 4-2 hole.
While Falmouth managed to put one run across in that final inning of play during Sunday’s doubleheader, the Commodores could not complete the comeback as they fell to the Braves 4-3 at Doran Park. With a win in the first game, the Commodores split the two-game series and now hold a 4-1 record in the season series against Bourne.
The Braves got on the board early when they started off the second inning with two straight singles. Bourne then loaded the bases on an error by Falmouth pitcher Daniel Koger (Auburn University). With the bases juiced and no out, Robbins grounded into a fielder’s choice, allowing the first run of the game to cross the plate. Koger minimized the damage, however, getting the next two batters out.
Bourne held onto that 1-0 advantage until the fourth inning when Rhys Hoskins (Sacramento State University) got on base after an error by the third basemen. With two outs and the runner on, Gillaspie worked his way into a hitter’s count before rocking a pitch to right for his league-leading seventh home run of the season to give Falmouth a 2-1 lead.
That lead did not last, however, as Tim Caputo (University of Rhode Island) came up to bat with runners on second and third and notched a bases-clearing double to regain the lead. Bourne tacked on another run in the sixth on a double by Robbins.
The Commodores attempted to comeback in the seventh with runners on second and third after Gillaspie’s towering double to right and the heart of the batting order up at the plate. Dylan Davis (Oregon State University) walked to load the bases before Kevin Cron (Texas Christian University) struck out for the first out of the inning. Troy Stein (Texas A&M University) hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Hoskins from third to bring the score to 4-3, but a ground ball off the bat of Joe Maggi (University of Arizona) turned into a game-ending double play.
Falmouth will return to action Monday eve ing when it takes on the Chatham Anglers at Arnie Allen Diamond at 6:30.
The Commodores Corner 