BG Offense Comes Up Huge in Emphatic 14-5 Win

Asheville, North Carolina– Ronny Simon and Tanner Murray led the way with three hits each in the Bowling Green Hot Rods (3-1, 44-25) 14-5 win over the Asheville Tourists (2-2, 28-41) on Tuesday night at McCormick Field in Asheville, North Carolina. The Hot Rods and Tourists will play the second game of a six-game set on Wednesday with a 5:35 PM CT first pitch.

The Hot Rods jumped out to an early lead, plating a run in the first against Tourists starter Aaron Brown. Simon led off the game with a double off the wall in right and, with one out, went to third when Kyle Manzardo singled. Simon scored on an error, giving the Hot Rods a 1-0 lead.

BG plated two more runs in the second with Brown still on the mound. Murray doubled off the wall in right with one out and, in the next at-bat, scored when Luis Leon hit his first homer with Bowling Green to give the Hot Rods a 3-0 edge.

Asheville got a run back in the bottom of the second, but the Hot Rods plated two with the bases loaded in the fourth to give BG a 5-1 advantage. Murray plated Dru Baker on a single in the fifth, but the Tourists scored two runs of their own in the bottom of the frame to make it a 6-3 game.

The Bowling Green offense went off in the sixth, extending the lead out of reach. An eight-run frame boosted the BG advantage to 14-3 with 13 hitters coming to the plate during the frame. The Tourists tacked on two in the bottom of the eighth, but the Hot Rods took home the win 14-5 in the series opener.

Nathan Wiles tossed 4.0 innings, allowing one run on four hits in a no-decision. Anthony Molina allowed four runs on five hits with two walks and a strikeout over 2.0 innings out of the bullpen. Audry Lugo (6-1) earned the win after throwing 3.0 shutout innings, allowing three hits with two punch-outs.