Hot Rods drop season opener on road to Drive
Published 11:05 pm Friday, April 4, 2025
- Bowling Green Hot Rods first baseman Blake Robertson (25) catches a ground ball hit by Winston-Salem catcher Keegan Fish (5) in the Hot Rods’ 7-2 win over the Dash at the Bowling Green Ballpark in Bowling Green, Ky., on Wednesday, June 7, 2023. (GRACE McDOWELL / Daily News)
Adrian Santana jump-started the offense with a two-RBI triple in the seventh inning, but the late surge wasn’t enough for the Bowling Green Hot Rod in a season-opening 9-3 loss to the Greenville Drive (1-0) on Friday at Fluor Field in Greenville, South Carolina.
The Drive (1-0) scored the first runs of the game in the bottom of the third inning against Bowling Green starting pitcher Marcus Johnson. With one out, Kolby Johnson collected a one-out single and Nazzan Zanetello walked. Nelly Taylor lined a three-run homer over the wall in right, giving the Drive a 3-0 lead. Marvin Alcantara drove in the fourth run of the inning with an RBI single, giving Greenville a 4-0 advantage.
Three more runs came around to score for Greenville in the bottom of the fifth against Bowling Green reliever TJ Fondtain. Zanatello led off the inning with a single and one out later Zach Ehrhard walked. Brooks Brannon singled to load the bases and Alcantara walked, plating Zanetello, making it a 5-0 Drive lead. Justin Reimer knocked in another two runs with a single, increasing the lead to 7-0. Taylor added another run with an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth, putting the Drive ahead 8-0.
Bowling Green (0-1) scored its first runs in the top of the seventh against Greenville reliever Max Carlson. With one out, Blake Robertson singled and Daniel Vellojin doubled. Adrian Santana tripled to left-center, scoring both runners. Émilien Pitre drove in Santana with a single, bringing the Hot Rods within five runs, 8-3.
Greenville plated their final run in the bottom of the eighth inning, beating the Hot Rods 9-3.
Isaac Stebens (1-0) earned the win for the Drive, tossing 2 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit, one walk and striking out two. Johnson (0-1) spun four innings, surrendering four runs on five hits while walking one and striking out seven.
The Hot Rods and Drive play the second game of a six-game series on Saturday with a 5:45 p.m. CT first pitch at Fluor Field. Bowling Green will send out right-hander Garrett Edwards to face Greenville righty Juan Valera.
