Williams Falls Homer Shy of Cycle, Hot Rods Crush Braves 9-4
Rome, Georgia – Carson Williams had a monster day at the plate, going 3-for-5 with two RBI, helping push the Bowling Green Hot Rods (11-14) past the Rome Braves (12-14) 9-4 on Sunday at AdventHealth Stadium. The Hot Rods offense exploded off Rome starter Tyler Owens in the top of
Rome, Georgia – Carson Williams had a monster day at the plate, going 3-for-5 with two RBI, helping push the Bowling Green Hot Rods (11-14) past the Rome Braves (12-14) 9-4 on Sunday at AdventHealth Stadium.
The Hot Rods offense exploded off Rome starter Tyler Owens in the top of the first. Shane Sasaki led off with a single and moved up to second on a throwing error by Owens. He scored on an RBI single off the bat of Williams to put Bowling Green up 1-0. Willy Vasquez gave the Hot Rods a 3-0 lead with a two-run home run over the left field wall. Dru Baker singled, stole second and third, eventually scoring on a throwing error from catcher Adam Zebrowski to make it a 4-0 ballgame.
Rome got on the board in the bottom of the third against Bowling Green starter Ben Peoples. Kadon Morton worked a walk and moved up to third on a sacrifice bunt from Cory Acton. He scored on a throwing error from Peoples, cutting the lead to 4-1.
Williams plated another run for the Hot Rods in the top of the fifth against Braves reliever Patrick Halligan. Sasaki reached first on a fielder’s choice and stole second to put a runner in scoring position. Williams tripled to center, scoring Sasaki to recover Bowling Green’s four run lead, 5-1. In the top of the sixth, Nick Schnell knocked a solo home run off Rome reliever Peyton Williams to make it 6-1.
In the top of the seventh, Nate Soria led off with a hit by pitch and Sasaki singled to left. Both runners scored on a three-run homer by Bob Seymour to increase the Hot Rods lead to 9-1. Rome plated three runs against Bowling Green reliever Franklin Dacosta in the bottom of the eighth, but reliever Kyle Whitten shut down the Braves in the ninth to carry the Hot Rods to a 9-4 win.
Sandy Gaston (1-1) earned the win, recording two strikeouts and a walk in 1.1 scoreless innings. Owens (0-3) took the loss, allowing four runs (three earned) on four hits and four strikeouts in 2.0 frames.
The Bowling Green Hot Rods enjoy an off-day on Monday, before traveling back to Bowling Green Ballpark to begin a six-game series against the Hickory Crawdads on Tuesday. Fans can catch all the action by watching on MiLB.tv or listening through the MiLB First Pitch App, tuning into Talk 104.1 FM and 930 AM WKCT, or visiting https://www.milb.com/bowling-green/fans/audio-listen-live.
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Hot Rods Baseball