Bats fall quiet, Winston-Salem drops game two to Bowling Green 7-2

BOWLING GREEN, KY (June 7, 2023) — The Winston-Salem Dash fell 7-2 Wednesday afternoon in game two of a six-game road set against the Bowling Green Hot Rods.

The Dash were quick to get on the scoreboard, plating 1 run in the top of the first. Terrell Tatum stole home for his 42^nd run of the year and 25^th swiped bag, both league-leading marks. Toeing the rubber for Winston-Salem was Kohl Simas, and the righty was dealing out of the gates.

Simas struck out the side in a 1-2-3 bottom of the first, but he ran into some trouble in the ensuing frame. A double and a single in consecutive Bowling Green at-bats knotted the score at 1 apiece, and the Dash bats would fall quiet thereafter.

Winston-Salem was retired in order in the third and fourth innings, and Simas wasn’t able to maintain the deadlock. In the bottom of the fourth, Kamren James knocked an RBI double to drive in Bob Seymour from first and put the Hot Rods up 2-1.

Following a third straight hitless frame for the Dash, Bowling Green added some insurance in the bottom of the fifth. Simas issued a walk and surrendered a double to put runners on second and third with two outs, but the damage kept coming.

Seymour cranked a 3-run shot over the right field wall in the next at-bat, giving the Hot Rods a 5-1 advantage. Simas’ outing was concluded after the fifth after giving up five hits, 4 earned runs and striking out seven. His ERA jumped up to 6.69 on the season.

The Dash couldn’t manage any offense from the top of the order in the sixth, and Everett Hazelwood entered in relief in the bottom of the frame. Hazelwood escaped the sixth with runners on first and second, but he gave up a 2-run bomb to Nick Schnell in the seventh to give Bowling Green a 7-1 lead.

The 24-year-old was pulled after 1.2 innings of three hit, 2-run ball as Ernesto Jaquez took the mound for the Dash. Winston-Salem went a sixth straight hitless inning in the eighth but were able to plate a run after an error, balk and wild pitch brought Tatum home and cut Bowling Green’s lead to 7-2.

Jaquez worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth, going four up four down in his 1.1 innings of relief with a trio of strikeouts. The middle of the order couldn’t get much going for the Dash in the top of the ninth, though, and Bowling Green held on for a 7-2 victory.

Simas was charged with his third loss of the season, and JJ Goss picked up the win for the Hot Rods after spinning 5.1 innings and giving up two hits, 1 run and striking out six. The Dash were outhit 8-3, and two hits came in the first two innings.

With the loss, Winston-Salem moved into a tie for first place in the South Atlantic League South with the Greenville Drive. They will have an opportunity to regain the lead Thursday night against Bowling Green with Jonathan Cannon set to start on the mound. First pitch is slated for 7:35 p.m. from Bowling Green Ballpark.