A sacrifice fly from Seaver Whalen earned the Bowling Green Hot Rods a walk-off, 4-3 victory in 10 innings in the completion of a suspended game from Wednesday. Thursday's regularly-scheduled game was suspended after one complete inning with Bowling Green leading 1-0. Bowling Green moved to 43-33 ahead of Friday,
A sacrifice fly from Seaver Whalen earned the Bowling Green Hot Rods a walk-off, 4-3 victory in 10 innings in the completion of a suspended game from Wednesday. Thursday's regularly-scheduled game was suspended after one complete inning with Bowling Green leading 1-0. Bowling Green moved to 43-33 ahead of Friday, which will see the Hot Rods finish the suspended game to nine innings beginning at 4:05 p.m. CDT, to be followed by a seven-inning contest approximately 30-minutes later.
On Wednesday night, the Hot Rods struck first on a Ford Proctor solo homer off Great Lakes starter John Rooney. However, the Loons responded with two runs in the fourth off Caleb Sampen. Bowling Green then tied the game when Proctor drove home Osmy Gregorio with a sacrifice fly in the fifth. Following the end of the fifth inning, the game entered into a rain delay and would eventually be suspended.
Thursday night's action began with the resumption of Wednesday's contest and the score remained 2-2 into the seventh inning, when the Hot Rods struck against Loons reliever Justin Hagenman. Kevin Santiago doubled with one out, then scored on a two-out single by Proctor, giving Bowling Green a 3-2 lead.
Joel Peguero entered the game in the eighth inning and threw a scoreless inning thanks to a pair of outfield assists. However, Great Lakes tied the game in the ninth on a two-out RBI single by Miguel Vargas, sending the game into extra innings.
In the tenth, Cristofer Ogando threw a scoreless inning, stranding the automatic runner on third. In the bottom of the inning, Gregorio started on second, moved to third on a groundout, and scored the winning run on a sacrifice fly by Seaver Whalen, giving the Hot Rods a 4-3 victory.
Sampen went 5.0 innings in a no-decision, allowing two runs on three hits, striking out six and walking two. Chris Muller fired 2.0 scoreless innings, striking out four and working around two hits and a walk. Peguero also went 2.0 innings, allowing a run on five hits, walking one and striking out one, while taking his second blown save. Ogando (3-1) threw a scoreless inning, striking out one and earning the win.
In game two, the Hot Rods struck first off Great Lakes starter Robinson Ortiz. With one out in the bottom of the first, Seaver Whalen cranked a solo homer to left, giving the Hot Rods a 1-0 lead. However, immediately after the end of the first inning, rain came and the game entered into a delay. The contest would be suspended after a delay of approximately 30 minutes.
The Loons and Hot Rods will play a double header to make up the suspended contest on Friday with a 4:05 p.m. CDT first pitch to complete Thursday's game. Bowling Green Ballpark gates will open to fans at 3:30 p.m. and the first game will be played to the completion of nine innings. The second game of the double header will be seven-innings in length and will begin approximately 30-minutes after the final out of game-one.
Notes: Game one was the Hot Rods' third walk-off victory of the season, and first since June 7 vs. West Michigan…All three occurred in extra innings…In game one, Tony Pena and Grant Witherspoon each recorded outfield assists, both men cutting down runners at the plate in the eighth inning…It was Weatherspoon's' third outfield assist…Pena recorded his fourth assist and his second in as many games…BG has four outfield assists in the last four games and 20 on the season…In the first game, Proctor recorded his 18th multi-hit game and sixth multi-RBI contest…He recorded his fifth three-hit game of the season, the most on the team…He also picked up a season-high three RBI, tying his career high…Bowling Green improved to 24-13 at home…BG is now 8-11 against left-handed starters…The Hot Rods are 5-3 in extra-inning games…BG is 29-13 when scoring first…Bowling Green won for just seventh time when being out-hit…The Hot Rods will finish Thursday's game on Friday afternoon with a 4:05 p.m. first pitch, followed by the regularly-scheduled contest, which will go seven innings…LHP Matthew Liberatore (5-1, 1.76) will start for Bowling Green in the second game opposite Great Lakes RHP Stephen Kolek (5-4, 4.76)…Friday night is a Fireworks Friday sponsored by Norton's Children's Hospital…It is also Princess and Pirates Night…The first 100 pirates will receive a sword and the first 100 princesses will get a tiara…Also, the first 250 fans through the gates will also receive a Chris "Bat Throw" Betts t-shirt…Fans can catch all the action with Shawn Murnin on Willie 107.9 FM, as well as, with their smart phones via the MiLB First Pitch app and TuneIn Radio app.
###
Hot Rods Baseball
