Greensboro, North Carolina – Tony Santa Maria and Justyn-Henry Malloy combined for six RBI, powered by a two-home run game from Santa Maria, to rally the Bowling Green Hot Rods (69-27, 22-9) to a 9-6 win over the Greensboro Grasshoppers (59-38, 18-13) at First National Bank Field in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The Grasshoppers plated the opening run in the bottom of the first inning against starting pitcher Jacob Kisting. Sammy Stafura hit a leadoff solo home run to left field, making it 1-0 Greensboro.
Bowling Green responded with two runs in the top of the second against Greensboro starter Bryan Mena. Malloy drilled a solo home run to left-center field, tying the game at 1-1. Three batters later, Santa Maria uncorked another solo shot to left-center for a 2-1 Hot Rods lead.
Greensboro delivered two more solo home runs to take a 3-2 lead against Kisting in the bottom of the fifth inning. Stafura drilled a leadoff homer to left field to tie the game. Edward Florentino connected for a solo blast on the next pitch to take a 3-2 advantage.
Kisting recorded his fifth quality start, throwing six innings of three-run ball, walking two and fanning two.
The Grasshoppers stretched their lead with three runs off reliever Garrett Gainey in the bottom of the seventh. Florentino logged a base hit, Yordany De Los Santos worked a walk, and Jared Jones blasted a three-run home run to center for a 6-2 Greensboro lead.
The Hot Rods pulled two runs back against relief pitcher Brandon Cain in the top of the eighth. Ryan McCoy and Adrian Santana drew walks, putting runners at first second. Nathan Flewelling collected an RBI single to left field, plating McCoy to make it 6-3 Grasshoppers. Malloy struck again with a base knock into left-center field, scoring Santana and trimming the margin to 6-4.
Bowling Green charged back with two runs in the top of the ninth against reliever Adolfo Oviedo. Santa Maria drew a free pass, McCoy ripped a double into left field to move Santa Maria to third. Noah Myers logged a sacrifice fly to left field, hedging the lead to 6-5. McCoy moved to third on a groundout scored on a Flewelling game-tying RBI infield single to even the game at 6-6.
Reliever Junior William worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth inning, sending the game to extra innings.
The Hot Rods plated three runs in the top of the 10th inning against right-hander Yulian Quintana. Aidan Smith started the inning at second base and Malloy ripped an RBI double down the third-base line, plating Smith for a 7-6 lead. Santa Maria uncorked a two-run home run to left field two batters later, extending the Bowling Green advantage to 9-6.
The Grasshoppers plated one run against reliever Andres Galan in the bottom of the 10th. Johnny Severino opened the inning at second and scored on a throwing error, reducing the Hot Rods’ lead to 9-7. Galan retired the last two batters to seal a 9-7 victory.
William (8-3) earned the victory with 2.0 scoreless frames, allowing just one hit and one walk and struck out two. Quintana (3-2) took the loss, surrendering three runs (two earned) on two hits, adding two strikeouts in 1.0 inning. Galan (1) delivered the save, surrendering one unearned run in 1.0 inning pitched.
Fans can catch all the action by watching on MiLB.tv, listening through the MiLB First Pitch App and BGHotRods.com. Fans can also secure their seats for future home Hot Rods games by calling (270) 901-2121, visiting the Bowling Green Ballpark box office during normal business hours, or going to www.bghotrods.com.
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Hot Rods Baseball