Bridgewater, NJ- The New Britain Bees (28-36, 54-80) defeated the Somerset Patriots (29-35, 71-63) 5-1 at TD Bank Ballpark on Tuesday evening.

The Patriots took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on an error.

The Bees took a 3-1 lead in the top of the fifth inning solo home run by Conor Bierfeldt (21) and a two-run shot by Michael Crouse (18).

Crouse went deep again in the top of the seventh inning (19) to make the score 4-1.

An RBI single by Jake McGuiggan gave New Britain a 5-1 lead in the eighth inning.

Kyle Simon (11-11) picked up the win, allowing an unearned run on seven hits in seven innings pitched. Patrick Johnson (1-2) suffered the loss despite striking out ten batters in five innings of work.

“I thought Patrick was very effective early,” said Somerset Patriots manager Brett Jodie. “He was getting a lot of swings and misses and strikeouts. He looked like he was in complete control up until that fifth inning.”

The 2017 Somerset Patriots Season presented by Ford will continue at home on Wednesday night with a 6:35 pm game against the New Britain Bees. For tickets, visit www.somersetpatriots.com.