T-L Photo/RICK THORP Bridgeport pitcher Neil White delivers during Wednesday’s game.

BROOKSIDE — The third time was the charm for Zach Winland.

After falling short in his first two attempts at winning his first game as Bridgeport’s head baseball coach, his Bulldogs delivered in a big way for him Wednesday evening, pounding out 13 hits in downing Monroe Central, 10-3, on the Niekro Diamond in a game that was called in the bottom of the sixth due to lighting issues.

“The guys came out ready to play,” Winland said. “We had a long break (from our last game), but we put the ball in play a lot better and made some plays behind our pitcher.”

Two of them were “gamechangers.”

The second came in the top of the sixth. Trailing by four, the Seminoles loaded the bases with two outs and had Wade Stoehr at the plate. He uncorked a pitch off reliever Izaac Jozwiak into the gap between right and center. But just when it looked like the ball would fall, centerfielder P.J. Sauvageot raced out of nowhere and made a leaping grab as his glasses flew into the air.

“It was real close to being a 7-6 game,” Monroe Central head coach Troy Baker said. “Their centerfielder made a nice diving grab out there.”

Winland said he certainly held his breath for a minute as the ball shot into the outfield.

“He’s kind of our swiss army knife,” he said of Sauvageot. “He makes catches, pitches and plays second. That was a heckuva catch.”

All told, the Seminoles (1-1) left nine runners aboard, including two in the first.

Monroe Central had already dented the scoreboard for two runs in that inning thanks to Talin Babcock’s two-run single, but were looking for more with the bases juiced and two out. But the Bulldogs (1-2) got out of the jam as Jason Reich lined a shot to first baseman Noah Riccelli, who then stepped on first for a twin killing, ending the threat.

That play seemed to spark Bridgeport, which answered with two runs of its own in the bottom of the first courtesy of RBI hits from Sauvageot and Cooper Dulesky.

Sauvageot’s sac fly gave the Bulldogs the lead an inning later.

Reich tied the game in the third with a single scoring Collin Kroll.

In the home half of the fourth, however, the Bulldogs broke the game open, batting around and scoring four times. Jozwiak — who was 4-for-4 — knocked in two of the runs with a double down the leftfield line. Bridgeport was also aided by two Seminoles’ errors.

“We were just trying to make sure we hit the ball in play and eliminate the strikeouts,” said Baker, whose team was coming off a season-opening 6-3 victory against Frontier on Tuesday. “We hit the ball and they made some plays. Then, they turned around and hit the ball on us.”

The four-run cushion was enough for Bridgeport starter Neil White, who picked up the victory after pitching into the sixth. He struck out four and scattered five singles.

“He’s going to be one of our top arms,” Winland said. “He was hurt last year and missed about 75 percent of our games and missed an opportunity to letter. He’s really hungry this year. He went out and threw a beautiful game.”

Bridgeport tacked on three insurance runs in the sixth, with Jozwiak, Dulesky and Zach McKivigan each garnering RBIs.

The Bulldogs welcome Buckeye Trail today, while Monroe Central visits Shadyside on Friday.