Bowling Green, Kentucky – Connor Hujsak continued his historic season with the Bowling Green Hot Rods (61-26, 14-8), blasting a three-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth to cement a 5-3 win over the Winston-Salem Dash (50-38, 12-10) Friday night at Bowling Green Ballpark.
The walk-off blast marked Hujsak’s 21st homer, tying former major leaguer Ronald Hernandez for the seventh-most single-season home runs by a Hot Rods player in franchise history.
Bowling Green plated the first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning against starter Justin Sinibaldi. Tony Santa Maria rolled a leadoff single, moved to second on a wild pitch, and advanced to third on a Hujsak base hit. Ryan McCoy posted an RBI single, scoring Santa Maria for a 1-0 Hot Rods edge.
Starting pitcher Dominic Niman helped hold that lead for Bowling Green. The southpaw fired 4.2 scoreless innings, striking out five.
The Hot Rods extended their lead with one run in the bottom of the sixth against reliever Trey Cooper. McCoy singled, stole second base, and scored on an RBI single by Larry Martinez, growing the margin to 2-0.
Winston-Salem stormed back with three runs in the top of the seventh against reliever Kaleb Corbett. Kaleb Freeman led off with a walk, teeing up a Jeral Perez game-tying two-run jack to right field for a 2-2 score. Arxy Hernandez laced a double and Ely Brown followed suit with an RBI two-bagger to right-center field, handing the Dash a 3-2 lead.
Relievers Junior William and Jonathan Russell pitched 1-2-3 innings in the top of the eighth and top of the ninth, respectively, keeping the deficit at 3-2.
Bowling Green rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth against Winston-Salem’s bullpen. Santa Maria and Nathan Flewelling each logged one-out walks against reliever Garrett Wright. Hujsak’s walk-off three-run shot came off Aric McAtee, finishing a 5-3 Hot Rods victory.
Russell (2-0) earned the win with a scoreless frame, punching out two. Wright (3-3) was tasked with the loss, surrendering two runs on one hit, two walks and two strikeouts over 1.1 innings pitched.
Bowling Green and Winston-Salem continue their three-game series on Saturday night at 6:35 PM. The Hot Rods will send RHP Jose Urbina (4-3, 4.41) to the hill against Dash RHP Max Banks (1-2, 5.56).
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