Hot Rods earn first walk-off win of the season

Published 10:01 am Monday, April 14, 2025

By Micheal Compton

The Bowling Green Hot Rods made the most of limited opportunities, slipping past the Rome Emperors 3-2 on Sunday at Bowling Green Ballpark.

Bowling Green (5-4) was held to four hits, but strong pitching and timely hitting set up Ryan Spikes’ game-winning sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning — giving the Hot Rods the first walk-off win of the season and salvaging a split in the six-game series against Rome.

“We ran into some tough arms,” BG manager Rafael Valenzuela said. “They ran out some good arms today, but we stuck with our plan. We battled and luckily we got a little bit of a break there in the last inning where we were able to pull through.”

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Bowling Green was held without a hit until the fourth. Mac Horvath walked and stole second, setting the stage for an RBI triple from Noah Myers to allow the Hot Rods to grab the lead. Myers scored on a sacrifice fly by Daniel Vellojin to extend the advantage to 2-0.

Rome (4-5) answered in the top of the fifth with RBI singles from Stephen Paolini and Carlos Arroyo to tie the score 2-2.

It remained tied until the bottom of the ninth. Myers opened the inning with a double, advancing to third on a single by Vellojin. That set the stage for Spikes, who lined a 1-0 pitch to center — allowing Myers to easily score the game winner.

“For young guys that is a big moment,” Valenzuela said. “Credit to (Spikes) for slowing it all down. Sometimes we tend to expand in those moments and kind of chase pitches, but he shrunk the strike zone down and swung at a good pitch and was able to put one up in the air.”

Jhon Diaz had the other hit for the Hot Rods, who finished 2-for-5 with runners in scoring position.

Adam Boucher, who exited after one inning when he felt some numbness in his fingers on Thursday, earned the win with one scoreless inning of relief — allowing one hit and walking one. Hayden Snelsire tossed 3⅓ innings of scoreless relief, allowing three hits with seven strikeouts.

Santiago Suarez, who started the opener of the series on Tuesday and allowed three runs in 3⅓ innings, bounced back to toss four scoreless innings — limiting the Emperors to one hit, while striking out five.

“He’s as advertised,” Valenzuela said. “I’ve heard nothing but good things about him. Getting a first glimpse of him on Tuesday and then again (today), he is a competitor. He’s a bulldog on the mound. He’s able to slow it down and make pitches when he needs to.

SERIES RECAP

The Hot Rods’ first home series was a mixed bag, with three wins and three losses. After starting the series with 10 runs in Tuesday’s opener, Bowling Green totaled 17 runs total over the next five games.

The pitching staff allowed five runs total in the three wins, with Rome scoring 20 runs total in the three wins.

Valenzuela said the biggest concern after nine games is defensively, with Bowling Green committing eight errors total in the six-game series with Rome.

“We’ve made the mistakes that I thought we were going to make,” Valenzuela said. “We’ve kind of been shooting ourselves in the foot a couple of times on defense. We just have to lock it in on defense a little better. Clean up the mistakes that we are making, but our pitching has been lights out. Offensively, I thought we’ve done a phenomenal job. We just have to clean it up a little bit on defense.”

UP NEXT

Bowling Green will open a six-game series at Hub City in Spartanburg, South Carolina at 5:35 p.m. This is Hub City’s first year in the South Atlantic League, replacing Hickory as the affiliate for the Texas Rangers.

Leandro Lopez is scheduled to start for Hub City. The Hot Rods have yet to announce a starter.

I am a sports reporter and movie critic for the Bowling Green Daily News.

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