HYANNIS, Mass. — Camden Kozeal knew his team needed a big hit to steal back momentum from the Hyannis Harbor Hawks in the eighth.

The Arkansas commit had watched his team lose a pair of two-run leads, with the Hawks plating five runs across the three prior innings to tie the score at 6-6. Kozeal quickly fell behind in the count, taking a strike before swinging and missing, and proceeded to foul off three more pitches.

It wasn’t a favorable situation for the second baseman, but with runners on second and third with one out, one swing could have put Bourne back ahead and pulled the momentum back into its favor.

But the result of his at-bat never came.

With fog rapidly building up at McKeon Park, the game was delayed and later called after seven full innings, cementing a 6-6 tie between the Braves (18-16-3) and Harbor Hawks (22-14-2) — the second time the two teams drew this summer. With the tie, Bourne missed an opportunity to hand Hyannis only its fourth home loss on the season.

“We were out to a big lead and couldn’t hold it,” field manager Scott Landers said. “Can’t control the fog, we didn’t do enough to win the game… We’ve got to shake it off and come back tomorrow.”

Third baseman Braden Holcomb (Vanderbilt) got the party started for Bourne early, clubbing a two-run shot with one out in the first inning. After shortstop Marek Houston (Wake Forest) drew a four-pitch walk, Holcomb connected on a 1-1 fastball and sent it 402 feet into the trees beyond center field.

Over their five-game unbeaten streak, the Braves have done significant damage with two outs, posting 14 RBI in those situations entering Friday. They added two more during the second inning against Hyannis thanks to outfielder Chris Stanfield (LSU) and outfielder Ethan Conrad (Wake Forest). With second baseman Camden Kozeal (Arkansas) at first, Stanfield slapped a fly ball off the center-field wall and motored his way to third for an RBI triple.

Working a 1-1 count, Conrad gave Stanfield ample time to score from third by lining a single into left field. He then swiped second base and capitalized on two wild pitches by Hyannis starter Drake Meeks (Southern Mississippi) to score and bring the lead to 5-0.

“It’s definitely a big boost getting out to a big lead,” Stanfield said. “It helps the pitchers a lot because they can kind of take a deep breath and know they don’t have a whole lot of pressure on them.”

As has been the case of late, Bourne was the beneficiary of strong starting pitching on Friday. Lefty Joe Ariola (Wake Forest) keeping his squad in the driver’s seat through five innings on the bump. He conceded an RBI single in the second and an unearned run in the fifth, but seldom issued free passes, primarily using a low-90s fastball to fill up the zone and cause whiffs.

At the end of his outing, Ariola threw 50 of his 78 pitches for strikes and fanned four.

“He threw well,” Landers said of Ariola. “He got into the one situation [in the second], but he got out of it. But overall, he threw pretty well and he controlled most of his pitches all day.”

When left-hander Bradley Stewart (Georgia) entered the game in the sixth, things began to shift in Hyannis’ favor. After third baseman Dalton Bargo (Tennessee) reached first due to a dropped strike three and stole second, outfielder Carson Boles (Arkansas) wore a 3-2 pitch. Stewart then tossed consecutive strikeouts, but two more walks brought in another run for Hyannis.

While Stanfield doubled and was later brought around to increase Bourne’s lead to 6-3 in the seventh, the Harbor Hawks continued their rally. Stewart plucked another batter and walked designated hitter Michael Dattalo (Dallas Baptist), marking the end of his day.

He was replaced by righty John Abraham (Florida State), who allowed three more runs — two of which were charged to Stewart — to deadlock the score at six.

Hitter of the Game — Chris Stanfield

After sitting out of the lineup on Thursday, Stanfield made his presence felt early and often against Hyannis, going 2-for-3 with two runs scored and another driven in.

Entering the batter’s box with Kozeal on first and two outs in the top of the second, Stanfield clobbered the second pitch he saw for a near-home run that bounced off the wall in center field. Using his speed, he turned the knock into a stand-up triple that easily drove in Kozeal before scoring on a single from Conrad.

When Stanfield came up in the seventh, the situation was far different. His team was now only ahead by two runs, but he quickly changed that. After lining a double into left, he was moved to third on a productive groundout and scored thanks to a sacrifice fly from Houston.

While Stanfield has hit for decent power the entire summer, he’s been adjusting his approach to reach extra bases more consistently.

“I’ve been working through some things,” Stanfield said. “I got in there early with [assistant coach Jarrod Saltalamacchia], and we’re just working on being a little looser with my hands… just being a little more loose and more athletic in the box helped me out today for sure.”

A Look Ahead

Bourne’s tie, paired with a Wareham victory to Cotuit, moves the Braves to two games back of second place with three contests left to play.

On Saturday, the Braves will have their first doubleheader of the summer, facing the Orleans Firebirds (14-23), who are 6-4 in their last ten, at Eldredge Park at noon before both teams head back west for a 7 p.m. first pitch at Doran Park. Both contests will be seven innings with a nine-inning curfew, and ghost runners will start the eighth and ninth on second for each team.

Landers has named right-hander Jonathan Stevens (Alabama) as his game-one starter against Orleans. As a freshman with the Crimson Tide, Stevens didn’t see action but came into Tuscaloosa as the 13th-ranked pitcher in Alabama by Perfect Game. In 10 relief appearances in the Cal Ripken League this summer, he posted a 1.42 ERA and a whopping 34 strikeouts across 19 frames.

Orleans’ starter for game one is to be determined.

The Firebirds will turn to lefty Michael Fultz Jr. (George Washington) for game two of the doubleheader. Through five starts and eight appearances this season, he has a 3.03 ERA and 17 punchouts in 29.2 frames. He last appeared in Orleans’ win over Cotuit on July 31, fanning two in 1.1 scoreless innings.

Fultz Jr. will face Bourne’s Cameron Padgett (North Carolina), a right-hander who also saw his last action on July 31, at Doran Park. In that 1.1-inning relief appearance against Wareham, Padgett shut down the Gatemen in a spotless frame of work. The North Carolina native has pitched 13.2 innings this summer, boasting a 4.61 ERA and 14 strikeouts.

Notes

Conrad’s hitting streak is now at 11 games… Houston also extended his on-base streak to 14 contests with two walks… First baseman Garrett Michel (Virginia Tech) is on a four-game hitting streak following his 1-for-4 night on Friday... Meggers recorded another knock on Friday, and now has at least one in each of his nine games on the Cape… He’s hitting .343 during that stretch… Outfielder Tristan Bissetta (Clemson) is on an eight-game on-base streak and a five-game hitting streak… Ariola is tied for the seventh-most strikeouts (28) in the CCBL. He also has the seventh-best ERA (1.64) in the league on Fridays.