Manzardo Drives in Four to Complete Sweep of Tourists

Bowling Green, Kentucky– Kyle Manzardo’s three-run homer in the third put the Bowling Green Hot Rods (14-9, 55-33) over the top in a 7-5 victory over the Asheville Tourists (10-13, 36-52) at Bowling Green Ballpark on Sunday. The Hot Rods will travel to Greenville to face the Drive in a six-game series beginning on Tuesday.

Asheville struck first in the third inning, but the Hot Rods quickly responded in the bottom half of the frame. Abiezel Ramirez and Ronny Simon led off the inning with back-to-back walks before Manzardo drove them home with a three-run blast to give Bowling Green a 3-1 lead. The Hot Rods put up three more runs in the fourth to take a 6-1 lead.

The Tourists put themselves within striking distance with a three-run fifth that cut BG’s lead to 6-4. Bowling Green got one back on an RBI single from Simon in the sixth. Asheville added another run in the seventh, but BG shut down the Tourists in the last two frames to secure a 7-5 victory.

Nathan Wiles threw 4.1 innings and allowed four runs on five hits with three strikeouts in a no-decision. Franklin Dacosta (2-3) earned the win in 1.2 innings, allowing two hits, a walk, and three strikeouts. Audry Lugo tossed 2.0 innings with one run allowed, one hit, one walk, and one strikeout. Graeme Stinson allowed one hit and one strikeout in 1.0 scoreless inning. Cameron Leonard closed out the game for Bowling Green, earning the save in 1.0 scoreless inning with one hit.

Notes: Bowling Green secured their second series sweep of the season… Both sweeps were in three-game series at home against the Tourists… BG is 29-13 at home this season with the best home record in the SAL… Auer has hit safely in each of his last five games… Manzardo has six hits over the last three games… Three of those six hits went for extra bases… Two were home runs… Simon has reached base in 12-straight games… Manzardo is now second in the SAL with a .312 batting average… Simon has scored a run in his last four games… He is third in the league with 57 runs scored… Bowling Green will travel to Greenville on Monday ahead of their six-game series against the Greenville Drive, with first pitch set for Tuesday at 6:05 PM CT… Fans can listen to the game on Talk 104.1 FM and 930 AM WKCT and listen via the MiLB First Pitch app on Android and IOS, or go to the Hot Rods website at www.bghotrods.com... Fans can get their tickets for upcoming Hot Rods home games by calling 270-901-2121, visiting the Bowling Green Ballpark box office, or visiting www.bghotrods.com.

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