Hankins K's 10, winning streak ends

(Bowling Green, KY) - Ethan Hankins set a new career-high with 10 strikeouts over just four innings, but the Lake County Captains (33-33, 73-62) saw their four-game winning streak come to an end on Thursday night at Bowling Green Ballpark. Lake County dropped the middle game of a three game series to the Bowling Green Hot Rods (40-25, 79-56), 3-1.

Both teams traded runs in the second inning, with the Captains striking first. Jesse Berardi led off and yanked a line drive off the top of the right-centerfield wall for a double and Daniel Schneemann followed with a single up the middle to bring him home. In the bottom of the inning, Hankins walked Grant Witherspoon to lead off. Two batters later, Chris Betts doubled to score Witherspoon and tie the game at 1-1.
The score remained tied until the fifth when the Hot Rods plated a pair against Captains reliever Kellen Rholl . The lefty walked Erik Ostberg and Jordan Qsar to start the inning. Ford Proctor then slashed a double off the base of the wall in the left field corner. Ostberg scored to give Bowling Green a 2-1 lead. Two batters later, Rholl walked Jonathan Aranda to load the bases and Ruben Cardenas lifted a sacrifice fly to centerfield that plated Qsar to extend the Hot Rods' lead to 3-1.
Lake County brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth, but could not push a run across. Berardi worked a two-out walk against right-hander Joel Peguero and a pair of wild pitches moved Berardi to third. Peguero then got Schneemann to ground out to first to end the game, giving Peguero his 15^th save of the year.
Hot Rods starter Miller Hogan earned the win. Hogan (7-3) pitched five innings and allowed one run on four hits. He struck out two and did not issue a walk.
Rholl (3-5) took the loss. The lefty allowed two runs over two innings. He gave up one hit, walked four, hit one batter and struck out two.
Hankins did not factor in the decision, but struck out 10 men over four innings and allowed just one run on two hits and two walks. Hankins struck out three men in the first, two in the second, two in the third and three more in the fourth. The right-hander punched out the last three men he faced to best his previous strikeout high by two. 10 of his 12 outs came on strikeouts.
The Captains and Hot Rods have split the first two games of their three-game series and will play the rubber game on Friday night. The contest will also conclude the season series between the two teams and a win for Lake County would even the 20-game series. First pitch at Bowling Green Ballpark is scheduled for 7:35 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.