Hot Rods Outlast Braves With 11-Inning 2-1 Win

Rome, Georgia– Connor Hollis’ 11th inning sacrifice fly proved to be the difference in the Bowling Green Hot Rods (35-19) 2-1 win in extras over the Rome Braves (30-24) at State Mutual Field in Rome, Georgia on Wednesday. The two teams will play a doubleheader on Thursday evening with a 4:00 PM CT first pitch for game-one.

The Hot Rods plated the first run of the game in the top of the second against Rome starter Darius Vines. Connor Hollis led off with a single to right and went from first to third on a single from Erik Ostberg to right field. Pedro Martinez hit into a fielder’s choice that retired Ostberg at second but beat out the relay to first to allow Hollis to score, giving Bowling Green a 1-0 edge.

The Braves tied the game in the bottom of the second when Logan Brown singled home Kevin Josephina from third against Hot Rods starter Jayden Murray. It took until the 11th inning for the Hot Rods to break the tie. Jordan Qsar laid down a sacrifice bunt in the rain to move placed runner Curtis Mead to third. Hollis lifted a sacrifice fly down the right-field line, allowing Mead to score while giving the Hot Rods their second lead of the night, 2-1. Trevor Brigden entered in the bottom of the frame, locking down an extra-inning victory to even the series with a score of 2-1.

Murray held the Braves to one run on four hits with four strikeouts over 5.0 innings of work in a no-decision. Dodson tossed two shutout innings, allowing four hits with a walk and three strikeouts. Alan Strong (5-0) tossed 3.0 shutout innings, holding the Braves to one hit with three walks (two intentional) and four strikeouts to earn a win. Brigden (1) threw a scoreless 11th, allowing a hit with a strikeout in a save.

Notes: Witherspoon homered for the fourth straight game… Mead made his High-A debut… Ostberg had his seventh multi-hit game of the year… All seven are two-hit efforts… Martinez batted ninth in the order for the first time this season… It was the first time he’d hit lower than seventh in the lineup in 2021… Murray has allowed just three earned runs to the Braves this season through four starts… He tied his season-high of 5.0 innings of work for the ninth time this season… The Hot Rods have played four extra-inning contests in 2021… They’re 4-0 in those games… The Hot Rods were 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position… The two teams combined to leave 26 runners on base… 12 of those were BG’s… The Hot Rods and Braves play a doubleheader on Thursday with the first game beginning with a 4:00 PM CT first pitch… The Hot Rods send LH John Doxakis (0-1, 5.84) to the mound against Braves LH Mitch Stallings (0-1, 4.85) in game one… Neither team has announced a starter for game two… Fans can catch all of the action by watching on MiLB.tv or listening through the MiLB First Pitch app, tuning into WBGN 94.5 FM and 1340 AM, or visiting https://www.milb.com/bowling-green/fans/audio-listen-live.

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