Early offensive flurry boosts Captains

(Bowling Green, KY) - The Lake County Captains (20-15, 60-44) scored in four consecutive innings, from the second through the fifth, en route to a 8-4 win over the Bowling Green Hot Rods (22-13, 61-44) on Sunday afternoon at Bowling Green Ballpark. 

After Hot Rods starter Easton McGee retired the side in order in the first, the Captains grabbed a 3-0 lead in the second, thanks to a big swing by Makesiondon Kelkboom . With two outs and two men aboard, Kelkboom pulled a line drive that hit the top of the left field wall and bounced into the Hot Rods' bullpen for a three-run home run.
Lake County pushed its lead to 4-0 in the third. Cody Farhat came up with two outs and smoked a line drive triple off the wall in right-center. Jonathan Engelmann then beat out an infield single up the middle to score Farhat from third. The Captains made it 5-0 in the fourth when Connor Smith led off with a single and scored on a double to left-center by Eric Rodriguez .
Bowling Green got a run back in the bottom of the fourth. Erik Ostberg hit a leadoff homer to right off of Captains starter Matt Turner . Later in the inning, Grant Witherspoon tripled and scored on an error by first baseman Miguel Jerez , when he misplayed a grounder by Jordan Qsar.
With their lead trimmed to 5-2, the Captains rebounded with two more runs in the top of the fifth. After Farhat hit a one-out single, Engelmann reached on a catcher's interference. A double steal put both men in scoring position and Smith drove in the pair with a single to stretch the Captains' lead to 7-2.
The Hot Rods got those runs back in the sixth and cut the Captains' lead to 7-4. Luis Araujo came in to reliever Turner and walked a pair before giving up a two-run double to Qsar.
Lake County went three innings without a run before adding an insurance tally in the ninth. Ike Freeman worked a leadoff walk against reliever Nathan Witt and Quentin Holmes followed with a single to right. With men on the corners and nobody out, Bo Naylor singled to bring home Freeman and push Lake County's lead to 8-4.
Turner (1-0) earned his first Midwest League win in his second start with Lake County. The southpaw pitched five innings and allowed two runs on five hits with two strikeouts, no walks and one hit batsman.
McGee (7-3) took the loss for Bowling Green. The right-hander worked four innings and surrendered five runs on six hits with five strikeouts, no walks and one hit batsman.
The Captains became just the second team since the All-Star Break to win a series on the road at Bowling Green. Lake County goes for the three-game sweep on Monday. First pitch at Bowling Green Ballpark is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. ET.
Individual game tickets for all Captains games are on sale at the Classic Park box office, online at captainsbaseball.com and by phone at 440-954-WINS (9467). Mini ticket plans for the 2019 season are still available for great prices complete with several exclusive benefits. Information can be found at the Captains website www.captainsbaseball.com.