Written by Jack Stashower

The Bethesda Big Train defeated the Southern Maryland Senators 6-4 in Game 2 of the LCS Semifinals on Friday at Shirley Povich Field, forcing a winner-take-all Game 3 on Saturday. 

Down three in the bottom of the ninth on Wednesday, the Senators shocked the Big Train by scoring four straight and taking Game 1 in the best of three series. The Senators came into Game 2 as the home team, but due to scheduling conflicts at Regency Furniture Stadium the game was played at Shirley Povich Field. 

Cale Vinson (Middle Tennessee State) led off the bottom of the third with a single to left for the Senators. Nick Flores (VCU) followed that with a deep double off the left field wall, putting runners on second and third with no outs. Adam Troch (Duke) brought in the first run of the game with a bloop single to right, easily bringing in Vinson from third. 

Logan Tribble (Wofford) extended the lead with another single to right, scoring Flores and increasing the lead to two. With Troch on third, Steven Kraus (Binghamton) hit a sacrifice fly to left to make the score 3-0. 

It took until the top of the sixth for the Big Train to get their first hit of the game against Senators starter Michael Walsh. A leadoff single up the middle by Alex Peltier (East Carolina) jumpstarted the Big Train offense. After Brennon Wright (South Alabama) was hit by a pitch and Emilio Gonzalez (Florida Atlantic) drew a walk, the Big Train had the bases loaded with two outs. With time running out in the game, and potentially their season, someone needed to step up big time. 

John Martinez (Florida Atlantic) accepted the challenge. He lined a ball back up the middle that got past the Senators center fielder and cleared the bases, bringing home Peltier, Wright, and Gonzalez. Martinez ended up on third with a stand-up, three-run triple. After six, the game was tied at three apiece.

The Big Train took the lead in the top of the seventh on a groundout by Peltier that scored Brett Ott (Sacramento State) from third. It was the first lead the Big Train had all game. 

It didn’t take long for the Senators to respond. With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Kraus singled over the leaping Big Train shortstop, bringing in Calvin Cook (Middle Tennessee State) from third to tie the game at four. 

In the top of the ninth, the Big Train knew they needed to break the deadlock. Peltier led off the inning with an infield hit before reaching second on a sacrifice bunt. Josh Skowronski (Winthrop) then walked, putting two runners on with one out.  

After Peltier moved to third on a wild pitch, Gonzalez hit a sacrifice fly to center, easily scoring the speedy Peltier and giving the Big Train a 5-4 lead. But the bats weren’t done. Peyton Steele (Alabama) hit a deep triple into the right-center gap, bringing home Skowronski and a much needed insurance run. Going into the bottom of the ninth, with their season on the line, the Big Train led by two. 

Reliever James Gladden (Maryland) finished the job for the Big Train, retiring the side in order and finalizing the Big Train’s 6-4 win. 

“We have a lot of momentum,” Big Train infielder Martinez said after the game. “We have a bunch of guys ready to go, we’re hungry.”

The Big Train and Senators will play Game 3 of the semi-final series on Saturday at Shirley Povich Field. The winner will advance to play the Alexandria Aces in the League Championship Series starting on Sunday.