Hot Rods Take Series Finale in Winston-Salem; Secure Home Field

Winston-Salem, North Carolina– Osleivis Basabe led the team with three hits and a homer while Grant Witherspoon tied the club record for homers in a single season in the Bowling Green Hot Rods (79-35) 9-3 victory over the Winston-Salem Dash (41-72) in the series finale and final regular-season road game of 2021. The Hot Rods also secured home field advantage throughout the High-A East championship series with Greensboro’s loss earlier in the day. Bowling Green enjoys an off-day on Monday before starting the final series of the regular season on Tuesday against the Wilmington Blue Rocks.

The Hot Rods loaded the bases against Dash starter Dan Metzdorf, taking a one-run lead in the third. Roberto Alvarez hit a one-out double off the center field wall and Gionti Turner walked. Brett Wisely walked to load the bases and Tanner Murray grounded a ball back to Metzdorf, who made a throw to the plate to keep the game in a scoreless tie while recording out number two. Diego Infante singled up the middle in the next at-bat, scoring Turner from third to give the Hot Rods a 1-0 lead.

The Dash tied the game in the fourth but Bowling Green took a one-run advantage in the fifth. Turner worked a one-out walk and Wisely doubled to left, giving BG a 2-1 lead. They added two more in the sixth against Dash reliever Ty Madrigal. Alvarez singled to drive in Grant Witherspoon and Logan Driscoll making it a 4-1 Hot Rods lead.

Two runs scored for Winston-Salem in the bottom of the sixth, bringing them within a run at 4-3, but a four-run eighth highlighted by Osleivis Basabe’s solo homer put the Hot Rods up 8-3. Witherspoon added a homer in the ninth, tying the single-season team record, as the Hot Rods went on to win 9-3.

John Doxakis (6-1) allowed one run on two hits with three walks and three strikeouts in a win. Lopez earned a hold and allowed two runs on two hits with a strikeout in his one inning of relief. Michael Costanzo threw a scoreless inning, allowing a walk with a strikeout. Angel Felipe let up a leadoff walk before striking out the next three hitters he faced in the eighth. Alan Strong threw a perfect ninth.

Notes: Witherspoon has a six-game hit streak… Wisely has a three-game streak… He logged his second-straight multi-hit game of the year… It was also his seventh multi-hit game and seventh multi-RBI game with Bowling Green… Three of those games are three-RBI efforts… Alvarez had his sixth multi-hit game of the season… It was also his second two-RBI game… Infante had his first multi-hit game of the year with BG in his debut… Basabe’s first hit with BG was a homer… Doxakis tied his career-high in innings pitched… Witherspoon tied Derek Dietrich (2011) and Evan Edwards (2021) for the Hot Rods single-season home run record… BG finishes their road schedule 38-22 this season… They hit 101 homers away from Bowling Green this season and scored 381 runs… The pitching staff had a 4.38 ERA on the road this season with 547 strikeouts over 508.0 innings… BG finishes their season-series against Winston-Salem 10-2, including a series win this week… BG is 15-2-2 I series this season…The Hot Rods have a league-wide off day on Monday… They’ll start the final series of the regular season on Tuesday at Bowling Green Ballpark against the Wilmington Blue Rocks… 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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