Bowling Green Hot Rods-West Michigan Series Recap

FINAL/14 innings: West Michigan Whitecaps 6, Bowling Green Hot Rods 3

Bowling Green and West Michigan met in Bowling Green Ballpark last night to play their final game of the four-game series. It would also be the Hot Rods final game of their seven-game homestand. The Hot Rods currently led the series with a 2-1 margin. The team looked escape with the win tonight and close out the Whitecaps before hitting the road.

Bowling Green pitching coach Bill Moloney placed six-foot RHP Christopher Pike on the mound, as he would pitch his second game of the series. West Michigan hitting coach Phil Clark sent centerfielder Derek Hill up to home plate to lead-off for the third time this series. Pike has been pretty dominant this season – with an 2.85 ERA, and he looked to be the same way last evening.

Chris Pike kept his dominance up to open the game, as he retired Hill, Will Kengor, and Ross Kivett to have a 1-2-3 half-inning. Well, Whitecap LHP Trent Szkutnik had the same idea, as he sent Thomas Milone, Riley Unroe, and Jace Conrad back to the dugout after he and West Michigan finished the first inning in a 1-2-3 fashion.

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Pike then went 1-2-3 to begin the second inning, and he made Casey Gillaspie due up for the Hot Rods. Gillaspie struke-out, Coty Blanchard flew-out, but then Grant Kay gave BG their first hit of the evening on an infield single. Catcher Mac James followed up by striking out, so he left Kay on base and we headed to the third inning scoreless.

The Whitecaps got the bats going in the third, as third-baseman Zach Shepherd hit a double and shortstop Steven Fuentes knocked in a double, which sent Shepherd home to score, gave Fuentes an RBI, and gave West Michigan a 1-0 lead as we headed to the bottom third. Bowling Green’s Bralin Jackson, Cristian Toribio, and Thomas Milone all were retired by Szkunik, so the Hot Rods still trailed after four innings.

Both clubs continued to go back-and-forth, going 1-2-3, up until the bottom of the seventh inning – that was when Riley Unroe knocked in a two-strike, two-out double sending Thomas Milone home to score. Jace Conrad then followed by being thrown out at first ending the sixth. BG trailed 2-1 to the Top of the 7th. In the seventh, Chris Pike went 1-2-3 to end his solid performance – his final stat line was 7 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 4 K’s. The Hot Rods got a couple of hits, but runners couldn’t score, so we headed to the eighth inning with the Whitecaps leading, 2-1.

Bowling Green inserted LHP Ryan Pennell into the game to hopefully cap it off. He began by retiring the side. Toribio, Milone, and Unroe were due up for the Hot Rods to end the 8th. Toribio flew-out, Milone hit a single, Unroe struke-out. Big hitter Jace Conrad then stepped to the plate and hit an RBI single, sending Milone home to score. That tied the contest at 2, and would end the inning that way. To the ninth!

In the 9th, both teams went 1-2-3 – extra innings here they went! In the 10th, the Whitecaps were retired by Pennell (ending his game), and the Hot Rods followed with two hits, but couldn’t score. In the 11th, BG RHP Kyle Bird struke-out the side, then the Hot Rods got the bases loaded… BUT COULDN’T SCORE! To the 12th!

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In the twelfth inning, West Michigan took a 3-2 lead on a 2-out, RBI double. Jace Conrad then stepped to the plate for BG, looking to tie it. Conrad got the hold of the ball, and hit his third homerun in as many days! That tied the game up at 3-3 heading into the 13th inning. In that inning, Kyle Bird retired the side (ending his game). The Hot Rods would go 1-2-3, then West Michigan came to the plate and became on fire – scoring three runs and winning the game, 6-3.

Bowling Green (24-17) is now tied for first place in the Midwest League with Lansing. The Hot Rods now travel to South Bend, Indiana for a four-game series with the Cubs (18-23) beginning tonight at 6:35 p.m. CDT. You can listen to the game at 1340wbgn.com or watch the game at MiLB.TV.

–You can stay up to date with Bowling Green Hot Rods baseball by following @HotRodsNation on Twitter at twitter.com/HotRodsNation.-