Marauders 5, Stone Crabs 3

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PORT CHARLOTTE – The Marauders (40-27) moved back into sole possession of first place with three games left to play by rallying for three runs in the top of the ninth to stun the Charlotte Stone Crabs (32-31) 5-3 on Thursday night at Charlotte Sports Park. Justin Howard celebrated his 27th birthday in style, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs, finishing a home run shy of the cycle.

Trailing 3-2 in the top of the ninth, Eric Wood led off with a four-pitch walk off Zach Cooper (L, 0-3). Howard tripled to bring home Wood and tie the game with nobody out. Max Moroff followed with a single to center to plate Howard for the lead. After Moroff was caught stealing, Jacob Stallings crushed a solo home run off the scoreboard to give Bradenton insurance.

The Marauders fell behind early as the Stone Crabs used aggressive base running to snare an unearned run off Tyler Glasnow. Marty Gantt bounced a two-out single to center field in the bottom of the second. With Gantt in motion, Granden Goetzman lofted a soft single to right field. When Walker Gourley bobbled the pickup in right, Gantt raced home to score the first run of the game.

Tyler Goeddel extended the lead for Charlotteto 3-0 in the fourth, hammering a 2-0 pitch from Glasnow to left center for a two-run home run. Glasnow matched his career high in hits allowed with seven and allowed his third home run of the year, but also struck out nine and turned in his first walk-free start. He pitched six innings. Bryton Trepagnier (W, 4-1) pitched two scoreless innings. Yhonathan Barrios pitched a perfect ninth for his 10th save.

The Marauders scored their first run in the fifth inning against Jaime Schultz. Howard singled and scored one out later on a double by Stallings. Schultz pitched five innings and struck out seven.

Bradenton continued the comeback in the sixth against Jose Molina. Howard lined a run-scoring double to left field with two outs to bring home Jose Osuna, who led off the inning with a double of his own.

The Marauders play game two of the four-game split location series at Charlotte on Friday at 6:30 p.m. It is the final regular season road game of 2014 for Bradenton. The game can be heard online at www.BradentonMarauders.com. Shane Carle will start for the Marauders.

The box score for Thursday's game can be seen here; the Play-by-Play review can be viewed here.