Bowling Green Hot Rods pitcher TJ Nichols (6) pitches to Asheville Tourists catcher Walker Janek (12) in the Hot Rods’ 6-3 win over the Tourists at the Bowling Green Ballpark on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. Hot Rods take the first two games of the series with game 3 Thursday night. GRACE MCDOWELL / DAILY NEWS

Starting pitcher TJ Nichols allowed just two runs over seven innings of work, while Adrian Santana extended his on-base streak to 17 games and Raudelis Martinez recorded four hits in the Bowling Green Hot Rods’ 9-5 win over the Winston-Salem Dash on Saturday in South Atlantic League action at Truist Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

The Hot Rods (33-28) jumped onto the scoreboard in the top of the second inning against Dash starter Frankeli Arias. Ryan Cermak reached on a fielder’s choice, and Jhon Diaz hit a two-run homer off the foul pole in right, giving the Hot Rods a 2-0 lead.

Winston-Salem (23-39) responded with one run in the bottom of the third against Nichols. With two outs, Sam Antonacci singled, and stole second and third base. Jeral Perez brought Antonacci in to score on a base hit, making it a 2-1 Bowling Green lead.

Another run came around to score for Bowling Green in top of the fifth inning against Winston-Salem reliever Nick Altermatt. Santana singled, stole second and advanced to third on an error from Arxy Hernandez. Emilien Pitre drove him in with an RBI groundout, making it a 3-1 lead for the Hot Rods.

Bowling Green plated five runs in the top of the sixth inning against Altermatt, headlined by a two-run homer from Aidan Smith, bringing the score to 8-1 in favor of Bowling Green.

The Dash drove in three runs between the seventh and eighth innings. In the seventh, Cole McConnell hit a solo homer to make it 8-2. In the eighth, a run scored on a wild pitch, and another on an RBI single from Braden Montgomery, making it an 8-4 Hot Rods lead.

Both teams scored in the ninth inning. For the Hot Rods, Pitre came through with a run-scoring base hit, making it 9-4. In the bottom half of the ninth, Luis Pineda hit a two-run, two-out solo homer, but that was all the offense Winston-Salem could muster, ending in a 9-5 win for the Hot Rods.

Nichols (6-2) picked up the win, tossing seven innings, allowing two runs on four hits while striking out eight batters. Arias (1-3) received the loss, surrendering three runs (two earned) on five hits, walking two and striking out three over four innings.

The Hot Rods and Dash play the finale of a six-game series on Sunday with a 1 p.m. CT first pitch at Truist Stadium. Bowling Green will send out right-hander Marcus Johnson (3-4, 4.64) against Winston-Salem righty Jake Bockenstedt (2-5, 5.86).