Ovalles Homers, Pitchers Deal in 7-0 Shutout Win

Greenville, South Carolina– Nathan Wiles, Conor Dryer, and Evan Reifert combined to shutout the Greenville Drive (9-18, 35-58) while Alexander Ovalles added a homer and two RBIs in the Bowling Green Hot Rods (18-10, 59-34) 7-0 shutout win on Saturday night at Fluor Field at the West End. The Hot Rods and Drive will play the series finale on Sunday with a 2:05 PM CT first pitch.

Saturday’s game started in a two-hour rain delay, pushing the start time back after 9:00 PM ET. Because of the late start and due to MLB rules, the contest became a seven-inning bout.

The Hot Rods scored the first run of the game for the fifth-straight night on Saturday in the first inning. With one out, Alexander Ovalles clubbed a solo homer to right against Drive starter Wyatt Olds, giving Bowling Green a 1-0 advantage.

BG extended their lead against Olds in the second. Logan Driscoll reached on an infield single and Johan Lopez walked. Luis Leon was hit by a pitch to load the bases and, with one out, Gionti Turner lined a single to center field that plated Driscoll and Lopez to extend the Hot Rods lead to 3-0.

Two batters into the bottom of the third, rain began to fall again, causing another delay. After 38 minutes, play resumed with Dryer taking over out of the bullpen for Wiles.

The Hot Rods added a run in the fourth on Ovalles’ RBI double to make it 4-0 and took a commanding lead with three more runs in the fifth to go up 7-0, going on to win by the same score.

Wiles took a no-decision after leaving during the rain delay, throwing 2.1 scoreless innings while holding the Drive to three hits with three strikeouts. Dryer (4-0) earned the win after 3.2 innings of scoreless baseball, allowing three hits with five strikeouts. Reifert tossed a scoreless seventh, allowing a walk with two strikeouts.

Notes: The Hot Rods ensured a series victory with Saturday’s win… They’ve won eight of their last nine games… Driscoll had his eighth multi-hit game of the season… It was also his fourth-straight two hit game… He’s got six two-hit efforts this year… Lopez had his fifth multi-hit game of the year… Ovalles has 14 multi-hit games… He also had his ninth multi-RBI game of 2022… Driscoll has a six-game hitting streak… Soria has a hit in three-straight games… The Hot Rods and Drive continue their series at 2:05 PM CT on Sunday… Bowling Green will send LH Patrick Wicklander (2-4, 6.98) to the hill against Greenville RH Tyler Uberstine (1-0, 2.45)… Fans can listen to the game on Talk 104.1 FM and 930 AM WKCT and listen via the MiLB First Pitch app on Android and IOS, or go to the Hot Rods website at www.bghotrods.com... Fans can get their tickets for upcoming Hot Rods home games by calling 270-901-2121, visiting the Bowling Green Ballpark box office, or visiting www.bghotrods.com.

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