Alex Holderbach's second walk-off home run of the season propelled the Quad Cities River Bandits past the Bowling Green Hot Rods 4-3 on Sunday evening at Modern Woodmen Park. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning and the bases empty, Holderbach drove a fastball from Hot Rods
Alex Holderbach's second walk-off home run of the season propelled the Quad Cities River Bandits past the Bowling Green Hot Rods 4-3 on Sunday evening at Modern Woodmen Park. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning and the bases empty, Holderbach drove a fastball from Hot Rods reliever Cristofer Ogando over the wall in right field to spark a celebration near home plate. The catcher's first walk-off home run came in the 12th inning of the home-opener on April 26.
Bowling Green (19-10, 58-41) scored all three of their runs in the game via the sacrifice fly. The first, off the bat of catcher Roberto Alvarez, gave the Hot Rods a 1-0 lead in the second inning.
The River Bandits (16-12, 59-35) broke free in the third inning after the first six hitters of the day were retired in order by Easton McGee. Holderbach started the inning with a single and advanced to third when Jonathan Lacroix followed with a double down the left field line. A triple over the head of the center fielder from Trey Dawson scored both runners and gave the Bandits their first lead of the series. Ramiro Rodriguez followed with a sacrifice fly that scored Dawson and pushed the advantage to 3-1.
The Hot Rods chipped away at the lead with a Jonathan Aranda sacrifice fly in the fifth and then evened the score on another sacrifice fly from Alvarez in the sixth. Neither team scored in the next two innings, setting the stage for the dramatic conclusion.
River Bandits starting pitcher Jose Alberto Rivera went 4.2 innings and allowed two runs on five hits while striking out seven. Felipe Tejada followed with 4.1 solid innings out of the bullpen during which he whiffed five and allowed just one run on three hits. Tejada earned the win to improve his record to 5-0 on the season.
Holderbach guided the Bandits attack at the plate, finishing 3-4 with the game-winning home run. Trey Dawson added two hits to the team's total of eight. Bowling Green received multiple hits from Ford Proctor, Connor Hollis and Izzy Wilson as they also tallied eight hits as a team.
The rubber match of the three-game series will be held at Modern Woodmen Park on Monday afternoon at 1:15 p.m. All fans will be able to ride the ferris wheel for free before and during the game. On the mound, LHP Jonathan Bermudez (3-0, 4.60) will start for the River Bandits against Hot Rods RHP Caleb Sampen (7-3, 3.20).
All River Bandits games are broadcast on 1170 K-BOB and TuneIn Radio. Home games are also available with video on MiLB.TV.
