Bowling Green seems to have found its mojo.

The Purples took advantage of Warren East’s struggles out of the bullpen and punished the Raiders with another offensive outburst, this time to sweep the series with a 12-6 victory Thursday at Harold J. Stahl Field.

Bowling Green (11-8 overall, 6-3 District 14) won its fourth straight district game, three of which have included double-digit runs scored.

Left fielder Evan Spader led Bowling Green with three of its 13 total hits while driving in five runs. Joe Howard also collected hits on all three plate appearances.

“We’re really starting to roll and get our bats going and our pitching staff has been really great for us,” Spader said.

Bowling Green earned its first district sweep after rallying from a four-run deficit Monday to win in extra innings, then blasting the Raiders on the road Tuesday for a 21-0 win in five innings.

“They’re playing with a lot of confidence,” Bowling Green coach Matt Myers said. “I knew after Tuesday this would be a closer game. (Warren East coach) Wes (Sanford) and them do a good job.

“High school kids’ mindsets sometimes, I thought we walked into it a little bit tonight. We grinding out and got the win and that’s all that matters.”

Warren East (10-13, 6-6) kept it much tighter Thursday by fighting back within one run on two occasions before the Purples scored five runs in the fifth to pull away.

Warren East stranded 12 runners and left the bases loaded on two occasions.

Rather than pitching Dakota Basham or Andrew McWhorter, Sanford went with Sheldon Martin, who spotted Bowling Green three quick runs by putting the first five batters he faced on base.

Martin lasted 3 1/3 innings and allowed seven runs on eight hits.

He pitched long enough for Warren East to keep it close by pulling within 3-2 thanks to RBIs from McWhorter in the second and third innings.

And just when Bowling Green got a sizeable lead with Spader’s three-run triple to build a 7-3 lead, the Raiders found their own rhythm.

Warren East scored on McWhorter’s third RBI and a passed ball to pull within 7-4. Purples reliever Charlie Key put four straight runners on with two walks and two hits, allowing RBIs from Martin and pinch hitter Morgan Phelps. That allowed Warren East to load the bases with just one out, but Max Payne entered to pitch and retired Ty Stringfield and Hawks to preserve the lead.

“Offensively, I’m pretty proud of them,” Sanford said. “We left the bases loaded at least once or twice, had a bad read on a miscue with the passed ball and that took some air out of us.”

Then Bowling Green countered with its own punch.

Warren East shuffled through three pitchers in the bottom of the fifth while the Purples tagged five more runs on four hits and three walks.

Trevor Dennis was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to set up Spader’s second straight hit on a two-run single to left field. Geoffrey Ross hit an RBI single to double the lead at 12-6.

“I think our biggest thing is energy,” Spader said. “When teams throw punches at us, we’re able to throw them back. At the beginning of the year when they would score, we’d be down in the dugout and there would be no energy. Now we’re picking it up.”

Warren East plays at Grayson County on Friday at 5:30 p.m. Bowling Green will host top-ranked Pleasure Ridge Park and Christian County on Saturday at Western Kentucky University’s Nick Denes Field.

“We get to have some fun and play the No. 1 team in the state,” Myers said. “We’ll go (Jackson) Haga right at them. … I love how we’re playing. We’re finally playing really good and now we’re playing a ranked team. Let’s see how we match up and we’ll refocus for (Warren) Central and get going.”

WE 011 040 0 – 6 9 1

BG 301 350 0 – 12 13 3

WP: Ginter. LP: Martin{&end}