Hot Rods Offense Erupts for 18 Runs in Series Opening Blowout

Hickory, North Carolina– The Bowling Green Hot Rods (28-13) offense posted season-highs in hits and runs in the team’s 18-4 win over the Hickory Crawdads (15-28) at LP Frans Stadium in Hickory, North Carolina on Tuesday night. The two teams will play the second game of a six-game series on Wednesday with a 6:00 PM CT first pitch.

The Hot Rods took a first-inning lead against Hickory starter Justin Slaten. Pedro Martinez tripled to right and scored when Connor Hollis singled to left with one out to make it a 1-0 game. Evan Edwards walked and Niko Hulsizer singled to right, driving in Hollis to extend the Hot Rods edge to 2-0.

Former Hot Rod Trey Hair hit a two-run homer off Bowling Green starter Michael Mercado in the bottom of the first to tie the game, but the Hot Rods added three more in the second against Slaten. Jordan Qsar and Erik Ostberg led off with back-to-back singles and, with one out, Greg Jones singled to plate Qsar. Ostberg and Jones scored when Hollis doubled to left, giving the Hot Rods a 5-2 lead.

Bowling Green was back again in the third, scoring four more against Slaten and the Crawdads. Blake Hunt singled and went to second on a throwing error by Hickory’s third baseman and with two outs Ostberg walked. Martinez singled to left, scoring Hunt to make it a 6-2 game. Jones homered for the eighth time of the year, clearing the bases with a three-run shot to extend the Bowling Green lead to 9-2.

Bowling Green collected five more runs in the fourth to go up 14-2 and Edwards added a solo homer in the seventh while Hulsizer hit a three-run shot in the ninth that went an estimated 470 feet. The Hot Rods won the series opener in decisive fashion, going on to claim an 18-4 victory.

Mercado allowed two runs on two hits with three strikeouts in a no-decision. Zack Trageton (4-1) earned a win after throwing two shutout innings out of the bullpen, holding Hickory to one hit with three strikeouts. Carlos Garcia tossed 2.0 scoreless frames with a hit, a walk, and two strikeouts. Tanner Dodson threw 1.0 scoreless while letting up a walk and two hits with three strikeouts. Colby White punched out five in hits 2.0 innings of relief, allowing two runs on two hits with a walk.

Notes– Martinez tied a career-high with four hits… It’s the third time in his career he’s done so… It was also his fourth multi-hit game and third multi-RBI game this year… Jones tied his season-high with three hits… He set a career-high with five RBIs… Jones had his seventh multi-hit effort and third multi-RBI game of the year… Hollis set a new season-high with four hits and four RBIs… Hollis has four multi-hit games and two multi-RBI games… Hulsizer had his eighth multi-hit game of the season… It was also his seventh multi-RBI effort in 2021… Hunt had his 10th multi-hit game of the year… He’s BG’s active leader… Qsar’s three-hit night is his second three-hit game of the year… It’s also his seventh multi-hit game this season… All nine BG starters had at least one hit… Six Hot Rods had multi-hit games… Four had multi-RBI days… The team’s 22 hits are a season-high… BG is 14-3… They’re 4-1 on the road this month.. They’ve hit 35 homers in the month of June, which surpasses the team’s total in May… They’ve played in 10 less games… The Hot Rods and Crawdads continue their six-game series on Wednesday with a 6:00 PM CT first pitch… LH Jacob Lopez (2-0, 2.54) will take the mound for Bowling Green against Crawdads LH Cole Ragans (0-1, 3.16)... Fans can catch all of the action by watching on MiLB.tv or listening through the MiLB First Pitch app, tuning into WBGN 94.5 FM and 1340 AM, or visiting https://www.milb.com/bowling-green/fans/audio-listen-live.

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