When asked what his team needed to improve on, manager Kelly Nicholson kept it simple.

“No matter what, if we were 5–0 or 0–5, we can always get better,” Nicholson said.

And his words rang true on Friday night at Guv Fuller field against the Commodores, as the Birds fell to Falmouth 7–3 in their third-straight loss.

While the score may say otherwise, Falmouth was not fully in control for the entirety of the matchup, though. In fact, Orleans had the upper hand throughout the early innings.

In the first inning, both Owen Kelly (Saint Louis) and Grayson Saunier (Texas) started the matchup on the right foot for both squads. With Saunier on the mound to start for the Commodores, he delivered a 1–2–3 inning.

The bottom of the first looked quite similar, as Kelly followed suit with a 1–2–3 inning of his own for the Birds.

It wasn’t until the third inning when things started to get going for Orleans, thanks to Dawson Bryce (Charlotte).

Off a Bryce single, he gave the Birds their first hit of the night. And not too long later, Bryce managed to steal second, putting the Orleans’ offense in optimal position to start heating up.

Following an out by Abbrie Covarrubias (Southern California), Javar Williams (Wake Forest) now stood at bat with two outs. Instead of faltering, Williams stood up to the plate and notched a single, advancing Bryce to third.

But Williams was not done just yet. Just as Bryce had done, Williams stole second.

Michael Crossland (UC San Diego) did not let his foot off the gas pedal, as he got in on the Birds’ hitting frenzy. Singling off a line drive, Crossland brought both Bryce and Williams home, as Orleans carved out an early 2–0 lead.

“I really like our pitching staff, we got some team speed, we are very good defensively, and early on in the game we just have to be patient defensively,” Nicholson said. “It just takes a little while to get going.”

Going into the third, it seemed like the Birds had just about followed Nicholson’s wishes.

Slowly but surely, though, the Commodores started to crack away at Orleans’ lead. In the bottom of the third, after a Ben Royo (Texas A&M) single and a Mark Quatrani (Cornell) homer for Falmouth, both squads sat on equal playing fields as the score was knotted 2–2.

What started as a punch-for-punch battle soon favored Orleans for some time, as the Birds snatched back the lead.

Starting the inning off explosively, Covarrubias nailed a single to left field. Crossland then pieced together a scoring opportunity for Orleans, as he doubled on a line drive and scored Covarrubias on the play.

The Commodores would eventually respond in the bottom of the sixth, off a Kyle Morrison (South Alabama) home run that sailed outside of the ballpark. Yet again, the score was tied.

That marked the last time that both squads stood on equal footing.

Unfortunately for Orleans, they were unable to capitalize soon after, as Easton Barett (Arizona State) delivered a dominant 1–2–3 inning of his own.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Commodores took the reins and never looked back.

After a fielding error, allowing Antonio Morales (Wake Forest) to reach first, Maika Niu (Marshall) took advantage of the opportunity.

Earning Falmouth its third home run of the day, Niu knocked it out of the ball park, as there was nothing that the outfielders could do to stop the bleeding.

The top of the eighth looked no different for the Birds as their scoring drought continued.

It wasn’t until the bottom of the eighth when the possibility of an Orleans’ comeback was silenced, as the Commodores tacked on another two runs. From that point on, it became clear that Orleans would not get their redemption against Falmouth, who previously defeated them 14–5.

All eyes will be on the Birds tomorrow night as they take on Harwich, in hopes of ending their early-season woes.