The Bowling Green Hot Rods were unable to get the offense going Thursday, falling to Fort Wayne (Ind.) 4-1 in the 2017 season opener at Bowling Green Ballpark.

Despite outhitting the TinCaps 7-3, Bowling Green struggled to find a rhythm offensively while going 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. The Hot Rods stranded six runners, while Fort Wayne only stranded three.

“We had our opportunities,” BG interim manager Joe Szekely said. “They got the big hit and we didn’t. That is basically what it boiled down to.”

Two of Fort Wayne’s three hits came in the first, with the TinCaps getting on the scoreboard with a sacrifice fly by Hudson Potts.

Mike Brosseau’s RBI double tied the score in the bottom of the fifth, but the momentum quickly shifted back to Fort Wayne in the top of the sixth.

Reliever Adrian Navas walked the first two batters he faced and Jorge Ona followed with a two-run triple in the gap. Ona scored on a wild pitch in the next at-bat to make the score 4-1.

Bowling Green’s best chance to rally came in the bottom of the sixth when the Hot Rods had runners at second and third with one out, but two strikeouts killed the rally. The first two runners reached in the seventh, but a double play snuffed out that rally attempt and the Hot Rods were unable to get another base runner the rest of the way.

“That’s baseball,” Szekely said. “It’s momentum swings like that fire teams up and get teams going. It was a clean game. I thought we played solid defense. It was well-pitched. They got that big hit after a couple of walks and that was basically the ball game.”

Navas took the loss, while Fort Wayne starter Jesse Scholtens earned the win – allowing one run and six hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Nate Lowe paced the Bowling Green offensive with two hits.

Dazzling debut

Bowling Green right-hander J.D. Busfield was impressive in his first professional start, pitching five strong innings.

Busfield, who allowed three of the first four batters to reach base, allowed one run and two hits with one walk and seven strikeouts. He retired 13 straight at one point, and 15 out of the last 16.

“He pitched well and he did a good job of (limiting) the damage,” Szekely said. “He could have given up more, but he did a nice job and kept us in the game. Couldn’t ask for a better start.”

Racking up the Ks

The pitchers looked to be ahead of the hitters in Thursday’s season opener, with the teams combining for 35 strikeouts.

Fort Wayne batters struck out 18 times, while the Bowling Green offense equaled a franchise record for strikeouts in a game with 17.

Opening act

With the loss, Bowling Green fell to 6-3 all-time in season openers. The Hot Rods are also 6-3 all-time in home openers, with Thursday’s loss snapping a five-game winning streak.

Up next

The series continues at 6:35 p.m. on Friday with left-hander Brock Burke facing Fort Wayne right-hander Logan Allen.

Burke went 3-3 with a 3.39 ERA in 13 starts with Hudson Valley (N.Y.) last season.

Allen finished 3-4 with a 3.33 ERA in 15 appearances with Fort Wayne last season. He faced Bowling Green twice, allowing five runs in 6 2/3 innings.{&end}