Wednesday night the Falcons allowed one bad inning which led to a 7-5 setback in Nanaimo against the NightOwls.

The Falcons offence opened the scoring on the Island in the top of the third inning.  Boogie McNeal doubled to lead off the inning then moved over to third on a ground out.  With two-out Ashton Graff-Rowe delivered a timely base hit to drive in McNeal for the game’s first run.

Unfortunately, the lead did not last long.  In the bottom of the inning the NightOwls roared back with three runs on four hits off starter Max Biddle.  Outside of the third inning, Biddle pitched well over the course of his four innings and showed good control striking out three in a no decision.

In the top of the fourth, the Falcons came right back to tie the game with a pair of runs.  With runners on the corners and two out, Druw Frost scored on wild pitch after he singled earlier in the inning.  The wild pitch also advanced McNeal all the way to third base after he reached on a fielder’s choice two batters before.  Justin Tucker (pictured) then delivered an RBI single three pitches later, scoring McNeal to tie the game.

The visitors would take the lead again in the top of the sixth.  With one out, McNeal singled, then moved to second on another wild pitch.  Two batters later, Graff-Rowe drove him in for the second time in the game for his second RBI.  He and Matthew Pena were then stranded in the inning, which proved costly.

In the bottom of the seventh, the NightOwls exploded with four runs, thanks to a pair of two-run homeruns off reliever Jackson Bell.  It was tough day at the office for Bell, giving up four runs on four hits and walking one in just 0.2 innings of work suffering the loss.

The Falcons offence didn’t go away quietly and cut the lead in top of the eighth.  With two-out in the inning, Pena doubled, then scored on a Graff-Rowe double, his third RBI of the contest.  Unfortunately, he was stranded and it was as close as the Falcons would come.

Graff-Rowe had a great night at the plate with four hits and three RBIs while McNeal, Tucker and CJ Griggs each had two hits. As a team the offence knocked out 13 hits and McNeal scored three times.

Thursday night the Falcons (1-4) will try and salvage a game in this series against the NightOwls (3-2) at 6:35pm.  Following the game the club will head to Victoria for a three-game weekend series with the Harbourcats.