GORHAM — It’s a situation that no pitcher in search of a complete game win looks forward to.

Bases loaded. Two outs. Tying run on second, with the chance of Biddeford’s second win of the season resting on your pitching arm.

But Tigers sophomore hurler Nate McKeown had a simple strategy when he struck out Zach Speirs to secure Biddeford’s 5-3 win over Gorham on Tuesday.

“I better not blow this,” McKeown said.

McKeown, who had pitched five scoreless innings for the Tigers throughout the rain-soaked contest, ran into trouble in the sixth and seventh innings. He gave up two runs in the sixth on a single by Abe Kilborn, as well as an RBI double to Sean Grandmaison with two outs in the seventh.

After immediately walking Brendon Joyce and giving up an infield single to Steven Broy, McKeown had his back against the wall against Speirs, the Rams cleanup hitter. Showing the poise of a veteran pitcher rather than that of a sophomore, McKeown calmly reared back and threw an assortment of fastballs and breaking pitchings before finally blowing a fastball by Speirs to end the game.

Biddeford head coach Casey Roy was impressed with McKeown’s composure.

“This is only the second start he’s had with us, his last start against Windham, he battled,” Roy said. “The lead just slipped away, we got in some relief, his pitch count got up there, and they just didn’t get the job done for him in the end. He was able to throw strikes early and often [against Gorham] and stayed in and finished the game himself and that helped us out a lot not having to go to the bullpen.”

With the win, the Tigers up its record to 2-3 on the season.

After Trevor Fleurent’s lead off at-bat in the first inning, the game was forced into a 30-minute rain delay, as a thunder storm blew through the area. Biddeford took advantage when play resumed, cracking the first run of the game when Chris Jones drove in Nick Gagne on an RBI groundout to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead.

For four innings following, it was a pitchers duel between McKeown and Gorham pitcher Mike Arsenault, each holding their opponent scoreless.

The Tigers scored four runs in the sixth inning, thanks to an RBI double by Tyler Parker, followed by a two-run Triple hit by Gagne down the right field line to score Parker and Tyler Audie to make the score 5-0, before McKeown and a sturdy Biddeford defense held the Rams rally at bay.

“That was our first road win, it was nice to see,” Roy said. “We got in this spot up in Windham and up in Bonney Eagle and that sixth inning the wheels would start falling off and they caught up and took the game away from us. It was good to see that, late in the game, we were able to finish and weather a little bit of pressure from them and close the door.”

Roy said the win was the first game where the Tigers worked well in every facet of the game, something he hopes will continue throughout the season.

“We only have three guys that played a significant amount of varsity baseball last year,” Roy said. “A lot of them are starting to get their feet underneath them, and they understand that the game is a little bit different. Any team can come and get you. Some of them are used to playing in younger leagues where when they get a league, they get comfortable. But I think they’ve seen that every one of our games has been a battle and there’s no walk-aways or gimmes in this league.”

— Contact Staff Writer Dave Dyer at 282-1535, Ext. 318.