Piper and Williams Smack Solo Homers in Hot Rods' 4-2 Loss
Published on June 14, 2023 under South Atlantic League (SAL)
Bowling Green Hot Rods News Release
Hickory, North Carolina - Kenny Piper hit a game-tying solo homer in the third and Carson Williams launched a go-ahead home run in the fourth, but the Bowling Green Hot Rods (26-28) offense was quieted the rest of the way to lose by a score of 4-2 to the Hickory Crawdads (23-32) on Wednesday at LP Frans Stadium.
The Crawdads began the scoring in the bottom of the first against Hot Rods starter Ben Peoples. Geisel Cepeda led-off with a single and moved up to second on a groundout. Abimelec Ortiz smacked a base hit to right, scoring Cepeda to put Hickory up 1-0.
Bowling Green tied it up in the top of the third off Hickory starter Josh Stephan. Piper rocketed a lead-off solo homer over the left field wall to make it a 1-1 ballgame. In the top of the fourth, the Hot Rods took a 2-1 lead on a solo blast off the bat of Williams.
In the bottom of the fifth, Angel Aponte and Jayce Easley led-off with back-to-back singles. After Aponte moved up to third on a sacrifice fly, he scored on an RBI single from Tucker Mitchell to tie the game at 2-2. Mitchell moved up to third on a single from Max Acosta and was plated on a base hit to left from Ortiz, moving the score to 3-2.
Hickory scored again in the bottom of the seventh off Bowling Green reliever Over Galue. Mitchell reached on an error and Acosta singled to put runners on first and second. Cody Freeman notched a base hit to center to score Mitchell and increase the Crawdads lead. The Hot Rods were unable to score in the eighth and ninth, losing to the Crawdads by a score of 4-2.
Stephan (4-3) earned the win, allowing two runs on four hits and 11 strikeouts over 6.0 frames. Peoples (2-5) collected the loss, lasting 5.0 innings while letting up three runs on eight hits, a walk, and four strikeouts. Jackson Kelly (1) completed the save, striking out five over 2.0 perfect innings.
The Hot Rods and Crawdads play game three of a six-game series on Thursday with first pitch set for 6:00 PM CT. Bowling Green has yet to announce a starter for Thursday's matchup, while Hickory is rolling out LHP Larson Kindreich (2-4, 5.91).
Fans can catch all the action by watching on MiLB.tv or listening through the MiLB First Pitch App, tuning into Talk 104.1 FM and 930 AM WKCT, or visiting https://www.milb.com/bowling-green/fans/audio-listen-live.
South Atlantic League Stories from June 14, 2023
- Rogers Hurls Six Hitless Innings as Drive Top 'Hoppers, 5-2 - Greenville Drive
- Weaver Sparks Four-Run Comeback Over Asheville, 6-4 - Winston-Salem Dash
- Renegades Down Braves, 4-2 - Hudson Valley Renegades
- Piper and Williams Smack Solo Homers in Hot Rods' 4-2 Loss - Bowling Green Hot Rods
- Blue Rocks Trifled by BlueClaws' Bats in Loss - Wilmington Blue Rocks
- Stephan Strikes Out 11 In Win - Hickory Crawdads
- Tourists Surrender Four-Run Lead Late; Fall 6-4 - Asheville Tourists
- Osterberg Sharp, Wingrove Homers Twice, Claws Roll on Wednesday in Wilmington - Jersey Shore BlueClaws
- Introducing the New 500 Club Menu - Greenville Drive
- Cannon, Asheville's Knorr Face off in Game Two Tilt Wednesday Night - Winston-Salem Dash
- HVR Game Notes - June 14, 2023 - Hudson Valley Renegades
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
