CHATHAM, Mass. — Over the course of a baseball game, one poor inning can derail the rest of a contest for a team, regardless of how well they’ve played up to that point.

Through four frames on Wednesday in Chatham, Bourne wasn’t spectacular by any means, as was the case for the entire night — totaling only six hits, stranding nine on the basepaths and going 0-for-9 in scoring position throughout the game.

Field manager Scott Landers’ squad had done enough to hold a 3-1 lead despite only totaling four hits up to that point. It was an encouraging sign after the Braves only managed two runs in their last two games.

But a nightmare fifth inning instantly thwarted any momentum they had on their side. The Anglers (15-11) hung six runs on Bourne (10-14-2), which never recovered and dropped its third straight contest, 8-4.

“It’s going to deflate you,” Landers said. “You’ve got to bounce back and win the next inning and we didn’t do that. They shut us down and they did a good job, but we’ve got to throw more strikes and be more competitive in the zone. When we do that, we’re good, but we didn’t.”

Chatham drew first blood on Wednesday, getting to starter Chase Meyer (West Virginia) in the second inning. Shortstop Aiva Arquette (undecided) and first baseman Robin Villenueve (Tennessee) both drew walks before the former was driven in by two groundouts.

Bourne didn’t take much time to fight back — it only needed one pitch to tie things up.

Leading off the third at the plate, outfielder Isaiah Jackson (Arizona State) put a barrel on the first offering righty Tyler Kozera (Central Florida) sent his way, clobbering a 392-foot leadoff homer into center field. The Braves weren’t finished, though, and plated two more runs in the frame to take a commanding 3-1 lead.

“It was OK,” Landers said of his team’s start. “We still only had six hits on the day. We had one good inning, but we’ve got to do a better job.”

Save for the one run surrendered in the second, Meyer was effective on the bump throughout his four-inning start. Finding the zone was difficult at times, especially when using his fastball, as he tossed 39 strikes to 43 balls. Meyer walked three after the second inning and finished with five punchouts, salvaging a solid outing.

Lefty Preston Prince (Rutgers), making his first appearance on the Cape when he replaced Meyer to start the fifth, didn’t enjoy the same fate.

He walked three straight Anglers before inducing back-to-back outs, but he was far from escaping the frame. With runners on second and third, Arquette slammed a two-RBI single into left field, tying the game at 3-3. It got worse, as Villenueve deposited a two-run shot over the center field wall.

The disastrous inning didn’t end there. Prince issued another walk to set the table for second baseman Jayden Davis (Vanderbilt), who launched another long ball run into trees out in left-center field. That two-run homer completed the gut-punch for Chatham — the deficit proved insurmountable for the deflated Braves.

“It’s definitely not the easiest thing [to do],” first baseman Garrett Michel said. “It’s definitely not easy like a clean inning. But at the end of the day, it’s a long game and you’ve got to come back and try to bounce back and make the score even. We really didn’t do that tonight, we kind of collapsed a little bit after that six-spot.”

Bourne showed some signs of life down the stretch, with Michel (Virginia Tech) picking up his second home run of the season — a solo shot — during the eighth. However, the Anglers plated another run in the bottom of the frame to put the finishing touches on an 8-4 win.

Pivotal sequence

Bourne wasn’t content with the score staying even after Jackson tied the game with his solo blast.

Following the homer, shortstop Marek Houston (Wake Forest) and catcher Chase Meggers (Oregon) both singled to position themselves on first and second with one out. Outfielder Tristan Bissetta (Clemson) then hit into what could’ve been a groundout, but Anglers third baseman Kyle Lodise (Augusta) overthrew Villeneuve, which bought Houston enough time to score.

A sacrifice fly from outfielder Chris Stanfield (LSU) drove in Meggers and tacked on another run to Bourne’s lead.

Pitcher of the Game — Griffin Hugus

Right-hander Griffin Hugus (Miami) didn’t enter Thursday’s game in an advantageous situation.

He took the mound after Chatham had just posted six runs in one inning, albeit needing only one more out to get out of the fifth. On the first pitch he threw, Hugus coaxed outfielder Caleb Stelly (Louisiana-Lafayette) into a flyout.

The sixth inning proved seamless for Hugus, who put the Anglers down in order, fanning one before facing the minimum again in the seventh. He allowed an earned run in the eighth inning to restore Chatham’s four-run lead.

Overall, though, Hugus did his job and finished his outing with four strikeouts and two base runners to his name in 3 1/3 innings. Thirty-one of his 54 pitches were strikes.

“He pitched good,” Landers said. “He pounded the zone and got ahead of guys and made them hit pitches that he could command.”

A look ahead

Bourne’s lead over last-place Falmouth has been narrowed to two games, with the Commodores defeating the Hyannis Harbor Hawks. The Braves will head to Guv Fuller Field on Thursday to face the Commodores in a makeup of their originally scheduled game on July 13, which was rained out.

The Braves will take on a familiar face on the mound in lefty Parker Coil (Arkansas). Coil has pitched in two contests against Bourne this season, most recently making his first start of the summer at Doran Park on July 7. During that game, he went four innings allowing two base runners and an unearned run while striking out four.

Coil last started five days ago when Falmouth hosted the Wareham Gatemen, surrendering six earned runs and nine hits in a rough four-inning start. This season, he owns a 5.51 ERA and 18 punchouts in 16 1/3 frames.

Bourne’s starter for Thursday is to be determined. First pitch will be at 6 p.m.

Notes

Michel is now tied with Stanfield for the most home runs (two) on the Braves this summer. He also has extra-base hits in consecutive contests… Houston has recorded hits in three straight games… Infielder Braden Holcomb (Vanderbilt) has the most hits on the road (18) this summer… Second baseman Camden Kozeal (Arkansas) leads the league with nine doubles.