BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Five games. Five one-run losses. Each one more painful than the last.
Saturday night’s 9-8 walk-off loss in eleven innings to the Bowling Green Hot Rods was the latest chapter in one of the most frustrating stretches of the Tourists’ season. The Tourists outhit Bowling Green 18 to 13. The Hot Rods committed five errors. Asheville still lost. That has been the story of this series.
Parker Smith ate up innings in his start, going six frames and allowing four runs while striking out four to keep the Tourists competitive. The offense did its part too. Caden Powell was outstanding, going 4-for-6 with two RBIs and doing damage all night long. Jack Moss went 3-for-6. Between the two of them they accounted for seven of Asheville’s eighteen hits.
Ethan Frey opened the scoring with an RBI single in the first. Bowling Green tied it and took the lead before John Garcia knotted it again in the fourth on an RBI single to score Zach Daudet. Powell followed with a line drive single to score Garcia, and a wild pitch from Cade Citelli scored another to make it 4-2. Powell added another RBI single up the middle in the sixth to push the lead to 5-2.
Then Noah Myers brought Bowling Green back in it with a two-run single in the sixth to cut it to 5-4. Powell doubled in the eighth and stole third, but was picked off at third by catcher Nathan Flewelling on a heads-up play. It was a costly mistake on what was otherwise his best offensive night of the series. Myers tied it with a sacrifice fly in the eighth. 5-5.
Jackson Wells came on in the ninth and immediately allowed a leadoff double to Connor Hujsak. Adrian Santana singled to right where Anthony Huezo was waiting. Hujsak jogged toward home assuming the game was over. Huezo had other ideas, firing a laser from right field to nail Hujsak at the plate. Wells followed that up by striking out Flewelling and Smith to send the game to extras.
The Tourists pushed ahead in the tenth on a Freuddy Batista blooper RBI single to score the ghost runner Daudet. 6-5. Bowling Green answered on a McCoy RBI single. Into the eleventh tied at six.
Xavier Neyens chopped one to the infield to start the eleventh. Flewelling charged from behind the plate and sailed his throw wide of first, scoring Garcia. Neyens moved to second and eventually scored on a Flewelling passed ball on a Junior William 100-mile-per-hour heater. 8-6 Asheville heading to the bottom of the eleventh.
Then everything fell apart.
Hujsak grounded to third where a Neyens throw went under Moss’ glove at first, scoring the ghost runner. 8-7. Santana singled and stole second with Hujsak on third. Flewelling hit one right to Alejandro Nunez at second. It skipped off his glove into right field, scoring Hujsak and tying the game at eight. On the very next at bat, a 3-0 wild pitch from Connor Steinbaugh sent Santana racing home. Steinbaugh covered the plate but Santana beat him. 9-8. Walk-off. Game over.
Two errors (although the Nunez mistake was ruled a hit) in the bottom of the eleventh. A wild pitch to end it. Five straight one-run losses. The Tourists have outhit, out-defended, and in many cases outplayed the Hot Rods this series and have nothing to show for it.
The series finale is Sunday afternoon at Bowling Green Ballpark. Dylan Howard takes the ball for Asheville against Jacob Kisting for the Hot Rods. First pitch is set for 2:05 p.m.