The Bowling Green Hot Rods’ hot start continued with a 7-0 win Sunday over Asheville (N.C.) at Bowling Green Ballpark.

Jonathan Aranda and Grant Witherspoon homered, and three pitchers combined to hold the Tourists to three hits as Bowling Green improved to 9-3 overall. The Hot Rods outscored Asheville 33-17 in the six-game series.

“It’s really good to see,” Bowling Green manager Jeff Smith said. “In our last series the ballpark played small, but to do what we did against this pitching staff shows how well we played this entire series.”

Aranda got the Hot Rods on the board with an RBI single and added a solo homer in the fourth to make the score 2-0. Roberto Alveraz’s RBI single made the score 3-0 in the sixth, and Witherspoon blew it open with a three-run homer in the seventh.

The Hot Rods capped the scoring with Alveraz’s RBI double in the eighth.

Bowling Green finished with 13 hits. Aranda and Alvarez had three hits each, while Jordan Qsar added two hits.

Peyton Battenfield, who opened the series with four no-hit innings, earned the win in his first relief outing of the season. The right-hander allowed two hits and struck out seven, giving him 16 strikeouts in eight innings in the series.

Evan McKendry earned the save with three scoreless innings, allowing no hits with three strikeouts.

Tanner Dodson served as the opener, allowing one hit with two strikeouts in two innings.

OFFENSIVE NUMBERS

Bowling Green has scored at least five runs in 10 games this season. The Hot Rods lead the High A-Central League in runs scored (78) and OPS (.794 entering Sunday’s game).

LIGHTS OUT

Battenfield continued his strong beginning to the 2021 season with another impressive outing Sunday. The right-hander has made three appearances, with two starts, and has totaled 12 innings. He has yet to allow a run and has allowed four hits with 22 strikeouts and three walks.

SERIES RECAP

Bowling Green won the series 5-1 in its first home series since 2019.

Three of the games were decided by one run, with a fourth decided by Greg Jones’ walk-off grand slam Saturday that gave the Hot Rods a 7-3, 11-inning victory.

With his big day Sunday, Aranda finished the series 6-for-22 with two homers and three RBIs. Alvarez improved to 4-for-9 in the series.

Ruben Cardenas finished 4-for-13 with a homer and four RBIs in the series. Blake Hunt was 5-for-15 in the series, while Greg Jones was 5-for-11 with two RBIs.

McKendry allowed one run and three hits over 6 2/3 innings in the series, while Battenfield tossed eight scoreless innings.

UP NEXT

The Hot Rods will play the next 12 games on the road, beginning with a six-game series at Rome (Ga.) starting Tuesday at 6 p.m. CDT.

Rome, an Atlanta Braves affiliate, is 7-5 on the season and tied for second in the High A-Central League South Division – two games behind the Hot Rods.

Following the six game series with Rome, Bowling Green will play at Asheville for six games starting May 25.{&end}