Greensboro, North Carolina – Ryan McCoy homered twice, contributing to a four-homer game for the Bowling Green Hot Rods (54-24, 7-6) in a 7-6 win over the Greensboro Grasshoppers (51-28, 10-3) on Friday at First National Bank Field in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The Hot Rods jumped onto the scoreboard in the top of the second against Grasshoppers starter Cameron Keshock. McCoy worked a one-out walk and Carlos Colmenarez singled. Bryan Broecker singled to left, scoring McCoy, giving the Hot Rods a 1-0 lead.
Bowling Green added three more runs in the top of the third against Keshock. Nathan Flewelling led off with a walk, and Connor Husjak blasted a two-run homer to right, putting Bowling Green ahead, 3-0. With two outs, McCoy sent a solo shot to right, increasing the lead to 4-0.
The Grasshoppers responded in the bottom of the third inning against Hot Rods starter Jose Urbina. Camden Janik and Dylan Palmer both reached on hit by pitches and Easton Carmichael singled to load the bases. A wild pitch scored Janik, and a Murf Gray groundout plated Plamer, making it a 4-2 game.
After a three-inning scoring drought from both sides, Greensboro scored again in the bottom of the seventh against Bowling Green reliever Jack Kartsonas. Palmer reached on a one-out single, and Sammy Stafura launched a two-run homer to left, tying the game at 4-4.
The Hot Rods responded in the top of the eighth inning against Grasshoppers reliever Draven Zeigler. Narciso Polanco led off the inning with a solo shot to right-center, giving the Hot Rods a 5-4 lead. One out later, McCoy hit his second homer of the game to center, making it 6-4. Colmenarez was hit by a pitch, Broecker singled to center, and an error by Palmer in centerfield allowed Colmenarez to score for a 7-4 Hot Rods lead.
Jhonny Severino hit a solo homer to lead off the bottom of the eighth inning, cutting into the Bowling Green lead, 7-5.
Greensboro had their last surge in the bottom of the ninth against Bowling Green reliever Junior William. Stafura and Carmichael recorded base hits to start the inning. Gray singled to right, scoring Stafura, making it 7-6. Greensboro had the tying run at third, but William locked down the save with a strikeout, giving Bowling Green a 7-6 victory.
Kartsonas (5-3) picked up the win, allowing three runs on seven hits while striking out eight. Zeigler (2-2) was given the loss, surrendering three runs (two earned) on three hits with one strikeout. William (1) earned his first save of the season, tossing 1.1 innings while allowing just one run on three hits, walking one and striking out one.
The Hot Rods and Grasshoppers play the penultimate game of the series on Saturday with a 6:00 PM CT at First National Bank Field. Bowling Green will send out RHP Trevor Harrison (1-1, 4.87) to the mound against RHP Carlson Reed (3-3, 6.05).
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.
###
Hot Rods Baseball