Coming off the Birds’ walk-off win the night before, the spirits were anything but low at Eldredge Park on Thursday night against the Kettleers.

And Dawson Bryce (Charlotte) took advantage of that, notching the only home run of the night that bounced off the wall in the bottom of the second.

“I thought it had a chance,” Bryce said about whether or not he thought his hit would be a home run off the bat. “I didn’t realize that I had topspun it, and I got enough off it to help us for sure today.”

Taking advantage of his at-bat, Bryce produced for his team when it matters most.

“Every game matters right now,” Bryce said. “Every at-bat matters right now too. Games this close we just need to be really dialed in at-bat.”

However, that would be the only run on the night for either squad, as Thursday proved to be a pitchers' duel between Cotuit and Orleans.

The Birds’ JT Raab (Georgetown) and Payton Manca (Florida State) took center stage under the lights of Eldredge.

“It all starts with starting pitching, and our pitching staff has been good the last few games,” manager Kelly Nicholson said. “When you only give up two runs in three games, your odds of winning are pretty good.”

Fortunately, for the Birds, that’s what rang true against Cotuit.

After Bryce’s homer, Manca didn’t let that faze him too much, though. Over the next four innings, Manca remained dominant, with only two baserunners advancing on walks.

Raab didn’t let off the gas pedal for Orleans, either. In his 4 1/3 innings pitched, he allowed just three hits with zero runs, notching eight strikeouts in his leadoff appearance.

When asked about the win, Raab kept his response simple.

“It’s huge,” Raab said. “Everyone needs a little bit of momentum going into next week. Let’s keep rolling.”

That’s exactly what the Birds did when defeating the Kettleers.

Taking the helm from Raab in the top of the fifth was Edward Hart (Duke). Hart only allowed a single hit during 2 2/3 innings on the mound, which came off a Jack Natili (Cincinnati) line drive.

But nothing would come from it for the Kettleers, and Hart ultimately logged two strikeouts on the night for the Birds.

The only other time that Orleans’ offense seemed to be getting something started was in the bottom of the eighth. But it was over as soon as it started.

After an Alejandro Garza (Cal Poly) double and an intentional Elijah Ickes (Hawaii) walk, the Birds had runners on both corners with no outs.

Unfortunately, for Orleans, they were not unable to convert on the opportunity, as the Birds were almost instantly sent back to the dugout.

In the last two innings, Brady Fox (Maryland-Baltimore County) and Kai Leckszas (Georgetown) each split the work.

Allowing just a combined hit and two strikeouts, Fox and Leckszas continued the dominant outings from the Birds’ pitching staff.

However, Nicholson did have some notes for his team in the narrow victory.

“I thought we may have been a little bit flat tonight,” Nicholson said. “We didn’t do some other things so well, but sometimes you can overcome that with good pitching, and that’s what we did tonight.”

Despite the notes, the Birds are heating up going into next week.

“We are really confident in ourselves and we know that we can compete against anybody,” Bryce said.