BOURNE, Mass. — Outfielder Chris Stanfield (LSU) wasn’t fazed by his struggles at the dish leading into his fourth at-bat of Thursday’s game.

His performance up to that point was one to forget. The second-year Brave came up empty in his first three plate appearances of the night, striking out each time. But when he stepped into the batter’s box with one out in the eighth, he was presented with a golden opportunity to change that entire narrative.

Entering the inning, Bourne trailed the Wareham Gatemen, 8-4, as they fell behind 6-0 early and traded runs down the stretch to keep themselves in the mix. The Braves continued to display the grit they exhibited in Wednesday night’s comeback effort — by the time Stanfield was up, catcher Ben Hartl (Kansas) and outfielder Davis Gillespie (Southern Mississippi) had driven in one run each via a hit-by-pitch and single, respectively, to bring the score to 8-6.

Stanfield made the most of his opportunity, pulling a two-RBI single into left to tie the game at eight. That clutch knock proved massive for Bourne (5-9-2) as it sealed an 8-8 tie with Wareham (11-4-1).

“I think earlier in the game, I was being a little too patient and kind of taking pitches I could do something with,” Stanfield said. “I went out there and I wanted to attack and swing, first pitch was just there, luckily he left one off and I was able to put a good swing on it.”

On Thursday, things started similarly to Bourne’s defeat the day prior, with Wareham grabbing an early lead. Outfielder Brendan Summerhill (Arizona) started the game with a single, and a wild pitch paired with two groundouts moved him across the plate.

Left-handed starter Joe Ariola (Wake Forest) struggled with command early, issuing three free passes and throwing two wild pitches, the second of which drove in outfielder Jace Rinehart from third. An inning later, outfielder Colby Turner (San Diego State) belted a one-out solo shot over the left field wall.

The long ball doomed Bourne yet again in the third after Ariola ended his 2 1/3-inning outing with runners on first and second. Right-hander Will McCausland (Mississippi) entered the game in relief and struck out the first hitter he faced, but then surrendered a three-run homer deep into center field.

“I didn’t think we were very good early,” field manager Scott Landers said. “[Wareham] was spraying it around, we were lazy defensively. [Ariola] wasn’t getting ahead, he just had too many free passes… his pitch count got high.”

But, like on Wednesday, the Braves’ offense heated up in an attempt to overcome its sluggish start. Three hitters — catcher Adonys Guzman (Arizona), second baseman Blake Barthol (Coastal Carolina) and shortstop Clay Grady (Virginia Tech) — reached via freebies, and outfielder Ethan Conrad’s (Wake Forest) sacrifice fly paired with a throwing error on Summerhill put two runs across.

Bourne continued its one-out rally when designated hitter Braden Holcomb (Vanderbilt) pulled a single into left, driving in another run. The two teams traded runs again in the fourth, but the bottom line was that the Braves were still very much in the game despite a disastrous start, pointing to the fight Landers’ team has shown over the past two games.

“We could have died yesterday down 6-0,” Landers said. “And we didn’t. We just came up short at the end yesterday and today, same thing. We’re down 6-0 early, [it] wasn’t going our way. But we battled and we battled.”

Pivotal sequence

After Bourne plated three runs in the third to make the game 6-3, infielder Antonio Jimenez responded with a solo shot into deep left field in the top of the fourth. But just as the Braves matched Wareham’s three-spot in the third, they came back with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning.

Gillespie slammed a leadoff double off of the left field wall and advanced to third on a passed ball. After Stanfield struck out swinging, Guzman hit a sacrifice fly into center field. It wasn’t pretty, but Bourne’s response in the fourth ultimately gave it momentum to fight back down the stretch.

“In baseball, when you give up runs and take momentum back, that’s key,” Landers said. “We get it two innings in a row, they scored three and we scored three, and then they scored one and we scored one. So once they got the momentum again, we took it back.”

Hitter of the Game — Davis Gillespie

Gillespie was one of two Braves hitters to log two knocks on the night, with Conrad being the other.

After his double in the fourth that later resulted in a run, Gillespie struck again in the eighth. With the bases loaded, Gillespie smacked a ground ball to Jimenez at shortstop and beat out the throw, scoring Conrad to make the score 8-6. His clutch hit continued the rally that resulted in Bourne tying the game.

Pitcher of the Game — J.D. Thompson

Multiple relievers delivered in high-leverage situations on Thursday — left-hander Justin LeGuernic (Clemson) and southpaw Zach Crotchfelt (Texas Tech) were two — but lefty J.D. Thompson shut down Wareham’s offense in the 10th inning.

With outfielder Bobby Boser (South Florida) being the ghost runner on second, Thompson induced a flyout before walking Rinehart. However, he then struck out infielder Eli Putnam (Davidson) despite allowing Rinehart to steal second. With runners on second and third, Thompson struck out catcher Jacob Jarrell (Clemson) swinging, ending the inning and sending the Doran Park crowd into a frenzy.

“He’s a ‘when the lights go on’ type of kid,” Landers said. “He wanted the ball, he wanted it in his hands. He’s been in those situations before. So, he obviously trusted his stuff and threw all his pitches when he needed to, I tip my cap to him.”

A look ahead

It’s far too early in the summer to scoreboard watch, but an important result for the Braves’ standing in the Cape Cod West Division occurred just down the road in Cotuit. A Falmouth Commodores loss to the Kettleers keeps Bourne in fourth place.

The Braves will be back at Doran Park on Friday to host the Harwich Mariners (9-7), who split a two-game set with the Brewster Whitecaps. The Mariners previously beat Bourne, 10-2, at Whitehouse Field on June 18.

Right-handed pitcher Ben Bybee (Arkansas) will look to build off his five-inning outing at Falmouth on June 27, when he allowed two earned runs and struck out three, as Bourne’s probable starter Friday. Through three appearances — two of which were starts — Bybee has posted a 4.91 ERA and nine strikeouts in 11 frames.

Harwich will likely go with lefty Haiden Leffew (Wake Forest) to start on the bump. After pitching to a 5.59 ERA and 28 punchouts in 29 innings, Leffew has been solid in three appearances on the Cape with a 3.48 ERA and 14 strikeouts.

First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.

Notes

The families of right-hander Tyler Fay (Alabama), righty John Abraham (Florida State), infielder Garrett Michel (Virginia Tech), Bybee and southpaw Zane Adams (Alabama) were at Doran Park on Thursday… 1,267 fans attended Bourne’s defeat to Wareham on Thursday… With two knocks in Thursday’s game, Conrad now has 18 hits in eight games along with 12 stolen bases… Bourne has the third-most hits in the league with 134… The Braves have also tossed the second-most strikeouts (160) in the CCBL… The Braves’ two ties this summer are the most on the Cape.