Beech Tree News Network

Alexander Homers, Witherspoon has three hits over two games

Winston-Salem, North Carolina– The Bowling Green Hot Rods (76-34) clinched a postseason berth after a 3-2 win in game one, and split a doubleheader with the Winston-Salem Dash (41-69) after a 9-5 loss in game two at Truist Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The two teams will play the fourth game of the series on Friday with a 6:00 PM CT first pitch.

The Hot Rods jumped out to an early lead in game one of the twin bill against Dash starter Kaleb Roper. Alika Williams lifted a one-out solo homer to left, his second of the series, to give the Hot Rods a 1-0 edge.

Two more runs scored in the fourth against Roper. Curtis Mead led off with a double and went to third when Grant Witherspoon singled to left. Mead scored when Jordan Qsar grounded out to first while Logan Driscoll singled home Witherspoon to give the Hot Rods a 3-0 lead.

Winston-Salem scored two runs off Hot Rods reliever Angel Felipe, but the righty worked through the trouble to close out the game and secure Bowling Green’s eighth playoff berth in team history.

Evan McKendry (4-2) earned a win after tossing 5.0 shutout innings, holding the Dash to three hits and a walk with four strikeouts. Felipe allowed two runs over 2.0 innings with three hits and four strikeouts in a save.

In game two, the Dash put up a run to take the lead in the second inning of game two, but Hill Alexander hit a two-run homer in the top of the third to take the lead, 2-1. The Hot Rods added two more in the fourth, but WinstonSalem came back within a run thanks to two runs in the bottom of the fourth to make it a 4-3 game. Winston-Salem broke through in the sixth with six runs, going on to win 9-4, splitting the doubleheader.

Michael Mercado threw 3.0 hitless frames while holding the Dash to one unearned run with a walk in a no-decision. Michael Costanzo allowed two runs on three hits with a walk and a strikeout. Jose Lopez (2-1) took the loss with his first blown save after allowing six earned runs on six hits with a walk and a strikeout.

Notes: Williams has homered twice in the first inning of a game this season… He homered in back-to-back games as well… Driscoll had his third multi-hit game of the season… Witherspoon had his team-leading 24th multihit effort this year… Mead had his 18th… Alexander had multiple RBIs in a game for the 12th time this year… The sixth inning of game two saw the Dash knock out six hits, the most in any inning this season… BG is 19-13 in one-run games this season… The Hot Rods are 3-0-3 in doubleheaders this season… BG has made the playoffs eight of the 12 seasons they’ve existed… They’ve also made the playoffs in five consecutive seasons… The Hot Rods and Dash play the fourth game of a six-game series on Friday with a 6:00 PM CT first pitch… The Hot Rods will send)… Fans can catch all of the action by watching on MiLB.tv or listening through the MiLB First Pitch app, tuning into WBGN 94.5 FM and 1340 AM, or visiting https://www.milb.com/bowlinggreen/fans/audio-listen-live.

###

Hot Rods Baseball is presented by MedCenter Health