The Bowling Green Hot Rods were able to power past the Greensboro Grasshoppers with an 11-6 win in the series opener on Tuesday at Bowling Green Ballpark.
Bowling Green (60-35 overall, 19-11 second half) hit three homers – all on two-strike counts – to open its August schedule on a winning note.
“Lengthy at-bats, much better with two strikes – we are just really grinding out at-bats,” Bowling Green manager Jeff Smith said. “They have been making the pitchers work a lot more, lengthier at-bats. That was the difference down in Greenville and it carried over tonight.”
Bowling Green led 1-0 after an RBI hit by Logan Driscoll in the first inning before Greensboro (42-53, 15-15) used a three-run homer by Hudson Head to take the lead in the second.
Driscoll answered with a three-run homer in the third before the Grasshoppers tied the score 4-all on an RBI double by Francisco Acuna in the fifth. Heriberto Hernandez gave the Hot Rods a 7-4 lead in the bottom of the inning on BG’s second three-run homer of the night.
Greensboro got a run back in the sixth, but Bowling Green added a two-run homer by Alika Williams in the bottom of the sixth and two insurance runs in the eighth to put the game away.
Driscoll and Hernandez finished with four RBIs each, while Alexander Ovalles added two hits and two runs scored.
Logan Workman earned the win to improve to 4-3 on the season. Workman allowed four runs – one earned – striking out four. Audry Lugo allowed one run over three innings and Evan Reifert finished it off allowing a run in the ninth.
“Workman had a good start,” Smith said. “Lugo really picked up our bullpen tonight because we were a little short coming into the series. We used a lot of pitchers the last series.
“And Reifert has been outstanding the whole season. I thought our pitching was outstanding.”
WELCOME HOME
A familiar face was in the Greensboro lineup with Bowling Green High School standout Luke Brown batting leadoff for the Grasshoppers on Tuesday.
Brown finished the night 1-for-5 with an RBI single in the ninth.
LOCKING IN
The offense continues to shine for Bowling Green, which has scored at least five runs in five straight games. With Tuesday’s 11-run output, BG has 34 runs in the last four games and has scored at least seven runs in six out of the last nine games.
Smith said his offense is starting to gain more confidence at the plate as the season progresses.
“It’s later in the season and they have seen more pitching,” Smith said. “I think their approaches are getting better – especially with two strikes. Things are starting to click better.”
SLOPPY PLAY
The teams combined for seven errors in Tuesday’s game – five by Greensboro – leading to seven unearned runs. Bowling Green allowed three unearned runs, with Greensboro allowing four unearned runs.{&end}
