Baker Logs 10th Homer of the Season, Hot Rods Lose 3-2 in Walk-Off

Winston-Salem, North Carolina – Dru Baker homered in the fifth and tied the game on an RBI single in the top of the ninth, but the Bowling Green Hot Rods (18-14, 49-44) let up a walk-off homer in the bottom half, losing 3-2 to the Winston-Salem Dash (12-19, 46-48) on Wednesday at Truist Stadium.

Jacob Burke smacked a solo homer in the bottom of the fourth off Hot rods starter Duncan Davitt to make it a 1-0 game.

Bowling Green tied it in the top of the fifth off Winston-Salem starter Tyler Schweitzer. Baker launched a solo homer over the left field wall to tie it at 1-1. In the bottom of the fifth, Michael Turner doubled and Colby Smelley singled to put runners on first and third. Andy Atwood hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Turner to put the Dash up 2-1.

In the top of the ninth, the Hot Rods answered back with a run against Dash reliever Jordan Mikel. Carson Williams singled and Dominic Keegan walked to put runners on first and second. Baker singled to right, scoring Williams to make it a 2-2 game.

D.J. Gladney homered off Bowling Green reliever Nate Dahle in the bottom of the ninth to end the game, 3-2.

Eric Alder (1-0) earned the win, letting up a hit and recording a strikeout over 0.1 frame. Dahle (0-1) took the loss, allowing a run on a hit, a walk, and a strikeout over 1.1 innings.

The Hot Rods and the Dash play three of a six-game series on Thursday with first pitch set for 6:00 PM CT. Bowling Green rolls out RHP Ben Peoples (3-5, 4.24), while Winston-Salem starts RHP Connor McCullough (3-2, 5.06).

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.

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Hot Rods Baseball