Led By Leadoff Blast, Erie's Offense Burns Bowie

Erie’s (13-11) offense bounced back to defeat Bowie (14-12) on Saturday night, 8-4.

Gage Workman led off the game with a solo home run. It was the second leadoff homer of the series for Workman and his third home run overall.

Erie extended its lead against Bowie starter Seth Johnson in the third when TJ Hopkins connected on a two-out, RBI double to make it 2-0.

Bowie inched close in the bottom of the third when Anthony Servideo hit his second solo home run in as many games. It made it a 2-1 Erie lead.

That solo home run was the only notch Erie starter Troy Melton surrendered. In four innings, Melton allowed a run on three hits with two walks and a season-high six strikeouts.

The SeaWolves began to grow the lead slowly in the middle innings. In the fourth, Ben Malgeri drove home a run on an RBI single. In the fifth, Stephen Scott worked a bases-loaded walk against reliever Carlos Tavera to force home Erie’s fourth run. Jake Holton’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the sixth made it 5-1.

In the eighth, Erie loaded the bases against Dylan Heid. With Holton batting, the right-hander uncorked two wild pitches to score Malgeri and Workman. Holton then singled home a third run, extending Erie’s lead to 8-1.

After Tim Naughton, PJ Poulin, and Andrew Magno combined for four innings of scoreless relief, Trevin Michael faltered in the ninth for Erie. The right-hander allowed three runs on four hits and a walk.

Naughton (2-0) earned the relief win. Johnson (0-3) took the loss.

Erie looks to earn a series split in the finale on Sunday as Lael Lockhart faces Alex Pham at 1:05 p.m.