Greensboro, North Carolina – Nathan Flewelling drilled one of three Bowling Green Hot Rods (70-28, 23-10) home runs on Thursday night, headlining an 8-4 win over the Greensboro Grasshoppers (61-38, 19-14) at First National Bank Field in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The Hot Rods struck first with one run in the top of the first inning against starting pitcher Treyson Peters. Justyn-Henry Malloy blazed a solo home run to left-center field for a 1-0 Bowling Green lead.
Greensboro tied the game with one run in the bottom of the first inning against Hot Rods starter Jadon Bercovich. Yordany De Los Santos was plunked by a pitch, stole second, and advanced to third on a groundout. Axiel Plaz lifted a sacrifice fly to left, scoring De Los Santos, evening the contest at 1-1.
Bowling Green bounced back with two runs in the top of the second against Peters. Aidan Smith singled and Flewelling whacked a two-run home run to right-center field, handing the Hot Rods a 3-1 advantage.
The Hot Rods stretched the lead with one run in the top of the fifth against Grasshoppers reliever Jose Garces. Jhon Diaz logged a bunt single, moved to second on an error, and advanced to third base on a wild pitch. Flewelling tagged a sacrifice fly to center field, plating Diaz for a 4-1 edge.
The Grasshoppers pulled two runs back in the bottom of the fifth inning. Camden Janik singled, ran to second on a groundout, and scored on a Josh Tate RBI base hit. Edward Florentino doubled in Tate two batters later, cutting the Hot Rods’ lead to 4-3.
Bowling Green responded with two more runs off Garces in the top of the sixth inning. Tony Santa Maria dribbled a single, Narciso Polanco earned a walk, and a wild pitch put runners at second and third. Ryan McCoy recorded a sacrifice fly to center field for a 5-3 advantage. Nicandro Aybar laced an RBI base knock to right field right, extending the lead to 6-3.
Greensboro gained a run back in the bottom of the eighth inning against Bowling Green reliever Jonathan Russell. Jared Jones struck a solo homer into right-center field, pulling the Hot Rods’ advantage down to 6-4.
Bowling Green tacked on two more runs against reliever Yulian Quintana. Diaz reached on an error and Smith socked a two-run home run to center field, making it 8-4 Hot Rods.
Russell held the Grasshoppers bats in check in the bottom of the ninth, finishing off an 8-4 final score.
Jackson Lancaster (1-0) picked up the win, going 2.0 scoreless frames, allowing one hit while striking out three. Peters (5-2) was given the loss, surrendering three runs on six hits over 4.0 innings, walking one and striking out two. Russell (5) logged the save, hurling 2.0 innings, letting up one run on two hits while striking out three.
The Hot Rods and Grasshoppers play game four of their six-game set Friday night at 6:00 PM CT. Bowling Green will send out RHP Trevor Harrison (2-1, 4.97) against Greensboro RHP Hung-Leng Chang (4-5, 9.19).
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