Bowling Green Hot Rods outfielder Shane Sasaki (6) sprints to first base during a game against Wilmington on Sunday, August 13, 2023 at Bowling Ballpark. (Daily News photo by Caleb Lowndes/caleb.lowndes@bgdailynews.com)

The Bowling Green Hot Rods kept rolling along with a 18-5 win over Wilmington on Sunday at Bowling Green Ballpark.

Less than 24 hours after nearly being no-hit and having a seven-game win streak snapped, Bowling Green (57-45 overall, 26-15 second half) bounced back with its third outburst of 10 runs or more in August and the most runs since scoring 20 against Greenville on July 28. Bowling Green took five out of six games in the series and has now won 12 out of the last 15 games.

Wilmington (43-63, 14-28) struck first with a solo homer by Jared McKenzie, but the Hot Rods answered with an RBI single by Carson Williams in the bottom of the inning.

Bowling Green exploded for five runs in the fourth to take control. The Hot Rods sent 10 batters to the plate, with a three-run double by Shane Sasaki and an RBI double by Williams helping BG build a 6-1 advantage.

The Blue Rocks got back-to-back RBI doubles by Sammy Infante and Caleb Farmer to trim the deficit to three in the fifth, but BG extended the lead to eight with a four-run rally in the sixth. The Hot Rods homered twice in the inning, a solo shot by Sasaki and a two-run homer by Willy Vasquez. Dominic Keegan also added an RBI double during the four-run rally.

Wilmington struck again with two in the eighth, before the Hot Rods added eight more in the bottom of the inning. Nick Schnell connected with a grand slam and Sasaki added his second homer of the day – a three-run shot that capped the scoring.

Bowling Green finished with 17 hits. Sasaki had four hits and five RBIs, while Williams finished with five hits. Keegan, Jalen Battles and Chandler Simpson also had multi-hit games for the Hot Rods.

J.J. Goss earned the win to improve to 5-4 on the season. Goss worked five innings, allowing three runs – two earned – and five hits with six strikeouts.

OFFENSIVE OUTBURST

The Hot Rods’ outburst Sunday was more than both teams had managed in the previous five games of the series combined.

The teams combined for 16 runs in the first five games with Friday’s 3-1 BG win the previous high for total runs in a game in the series. The series also featured three games that finished 2-1 – two won by the Hot Rods and one by the Blue Rocks. BG opened the series with a 1-0 win on Tuesday.

UP NEXT

The Hot Rods open a six-game series at Greensboro at 5:30 p.m. CDT on Tuesday. Bowling Green will play Greensboro in 12 out of the final 24 games of the season with the Grasshoppers returning to Bowling Green for a season-ending six-game series that begins on Sept. 5.

Neither team has announced a starter for Tuesday’s game.{&end}