Hot Rods Sweep Series Opening Doubleheader Against Dash

Bowling Green, Kentucky– John Doxakis and Jayden Murray each held the Winston-Salem Dash (26-36) to one run over five innings, helping the Bowling Green Hot Rods (41-21) sweep a doubleheader 5-1 and 2-1 on Wednesday at Bowling Green Ballpark in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The two teams play the third game of a six-game series Thursday with a 6:35 PM CT first pitch.

The Hot Rods jumped onto the scoreboard first against Winston-Salem starter Taylor Varnell in the first frame. With two outs, Curtis Mead crushed a solo homer into the Bud Zone in left to give Bowling Green an early 1-0 lead. The Dash brought in the next run to tie the game in the bottom of the third against Murray. Duke Ellis hit a solo home run with two out to even the score at 1-1.

Bowling Green broke the tie in the third with Varnell still on the mound. With one out, Grant Witherspoon launched a home run to right-center, clearing the concourse. The home run was Witherspoon’s 11th of the season and gave the Hot Rods a 2-1 edge.

Two more runs scored for Bowling Green in the fifth inning against Varnell. Witherspoon singled and advanced to second on a single by Greg Jones. Pedro Martinez grounded out to the pitcher to move runners to second and third. Curtis Mead singled to left field to drive in Witherspoon and Jones and expand the Hot Rod advantage to 4-1.

Bowling Green added one more run in the sixth against Dash reliever Hansen Butler. Hill Alexander singled with one out and advanced to third on a stolen base and an error. Evan Edwards and Witherspoon worked back-to-back walks to load the bases. In the next at-bat, Jones singled to centerfield to score Alexander and give the Hot Rods their final run in a 5-1 win.

Murray (7-1) tossed 5.0 innings, allowing one run on two hits while striking out six in his seventh win of the year. Alan Strong pitched a perfect inning, striking out one and earning his second hold of the season. Trevor Brigden hurled the final inning, giving up one hit and striking out two.

In the second game of the twin bill, the Dash broke onto the scoreboard first against Doxakis in the top of the third. Jagger Rusconi led off with a single and moved to second on Lazaro Leal’s base hit. Ian Dawkins drove in Rusconi with a single to give the dash an edge, 1-0.

The Hot Rods plated two runs in the bottom of the third frame to take the lead against Winston-Salem starter Dan Metzdorf. Erik Ostberg singled with one out and Jones followed, crushing a ball off the batters eye in center field. It was Jones’ 11th long ball of the season and gave the Hot Rods their first lead of the game, 2-1. Doxakis and reliever Colby White kept the Dash scoreless over the last four innings to give the Hot Rods a 2-1 win.

Doxakis (1-1) pitched 5.0 innings, holding the Dash to one run on four hits and struck out five in his first win for Bowling Green this season. White (2) earned his second save of the season while tossing a scoreless 2.0 innings, walking one and striking out two.

Notes: Murray tossed his 10th consecutive 5.0 inning appearance… Jones collected his ninth and 10th multi-hit games of the year… Jones had his fourth three-hit game this season… He also logged his sixth multi-RBI game of 2021… Mead had his second multi-hit game of the year and his first multi-RBI game since joining the Hot Rods… BG starters are 13-9 this year… The Hot Rods are 26-2 when outhitting opponents… They are 4-3 when having an equal amount of hits… Game two was the first 2-1 win for BG since June 23rd… The two wins are the first against Winston-Salem in franchise history… The Hot Rods are 2-0-2 in doubleheaders this year… Bowling Green is on a three-game win streak… BG is 9-8 in one-run games… The team is 20-10 in games decided by four or more runs… The Hot Rods and Dash play the third game of a six-game series on Thursday with a 6:35 PM CT first pitch… Bowling Green sends RH Zack Trageton (4-1, 4.47) to the mound against Winston-Salem’s RH Kaleb Roper (0-1, 7.65)… 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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