Hub City Blasts Three Homers, Beats Bowling Green Tuesday

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Hub City returned to Bowling Green Ballpark, the site of its 2025 South Atlantic League South Division title-clinching win Tuesday. The Spartanburgers (12-24, 46-56) started a six-game set against the Hot Rods (25-12, 72-30) with a 4-1 victory. The ‘Burger bats whacked three homers to support Ismael Agreda’s strong start.

Paxton Kling gave Hub City an immediate lead, lifting Dominic Niman’s fifth pitch over the right field fence. Agreda retired six of the first seven he faced.

Kling started the ‘Burgers’ second trip through the lineup with a double. The next batter, Casey Cook, chopped a single up the middle that scored Kling from second.

Bowling Green put the pressure on Agreda second time through its order. In the fourth, after a pair of strikeouts, Hot Rods’ outfielder Ryan Cermak singled, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error. Tony Santa Maria drove in Cermak to cut the Spartanburgers’ lead to 2-1. Agreda (W, 3-5) allowed two hits in the fifth but stranded both runners, finishing off his outing with a strikeout of Brendan Summerhill.

Despite giving up three doubles, Niman (L, 7-4) kept the Spartanburgers off the scoreboard through his final three innings. Bowling Green turned to the bullpen in the seventh, and Ryan Andrade worked around a pair of walks to post a zero. Enrique Segura battled through a pair of infield hits for a scoreless sixth and faced the minimum in the seventh.

Two big swings changed the tenor of the game in the eighth. Jadon Bercovich entered for Bowling Green. The right-hander hung a slider to Gleider Figuereo; the ‘Burgers’ cleanup man demolished his 19th home run of the season. Two batters later, Marcos Torres cranked his first High-A homer, a pull-side rocket that rose over a celebratory Spartanburgers bullpen.

Supported by a three-run cushion, the back end handled business over the final two innings. Case Matter struck out two in a scoreless eighth. J’Briell Easley (S, 1) rolled a game-ending double play to earn his first professional save.

Hub City and Bowling Green take the diamond for their eighth matchup of the season at 7:35 p.m. ET Wednesday. RHP AJ Russell (1-3, 4.50 ERA) is the Spartanburgers' scheduled starter, while the Hot Rods' starter is TBD.