Piotto Stays Hot in Loss

Hickory, NC- The Bowling Green Hot Rods slugged two early home runs in the first three frames to take a 5-2 win over the Hickory Crawdads on Wednesday afternoon at LP Frans Stadium.

Konner Piotto had two hits for the Crawdads, scoring the first run of the contest for Hickory (27-38) in the second inning. The multi-hit game continues a hot streak for the Ontario native, as Piotto is now hitting .538 (7-13) dating back to June 13.

Devin Hurdle added a single in the second inning, scoring Ben Blackwell, to cut the lead to 3-2. Blackwell's double plated Piotto earlier in the stanza, who opened the frame with a single to left.

Damian Mendoza, Jacob Maton and Gavin Collyer tossed six innings of scoreless relief for Hickory, holding the Hot Rods to three hits while striking out five Bowling Green hitters.

The win for Bowling Green (36-29) keeps them alive in the hunt for the SAL South Division first half title, as the Rome Emperors will face Greenville tonight, looking to maintain their slim one game advantage. A win from Rome tonight or tomorrow will eliminate the Hot Rods.

Tomorrow, Mitch Bratt gets the start for Hickory, as the Crawdads look to close out the first half of the 2024 season with a win against the Hot Rods. First pitch is set for 7pm, as the game has been chosen as the free MiLB Game of the Day and will be aired on MLB.com, MiLB.TV, and the Bally Live app. Crawdads Pregame starts at 6:45pm on hickorycrawdads.com.