Schnell Blasts Solo Homer in Hot Rods 2-1 Loss to Crawdads
Hickory, North Carolina – Nick Schnell tallied his seventh home run of the season, but the Bowling Green Hot Rods (26-27) collected just three hits during their 2-1 loss to the Hickory Crawdads (22-32) on Tuesday at LP Frans Stadium.
Hickory scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the second off Bowling Green starter J.J. Goss. Cody Freeman led-off with a double and moved up to third on a wild pitch. Daniel Mateo notched an infield single to third, scoring Freeman to put the Crawdads up 1-0. In the bottom of the third, Geisel Cepeda singled and came around to score on an RBI double by Max Acosta that made it a 2-0 ballgame.
The Hot Rods offense received a spark in the top of the fifth against Crawdads reliever Andy Rodriguez. Nick Schnell smacked a solo homer to left center, decreasing Hickory’s lead to a run. In the top of the ninth, Kenny Piper and Dru Baker reached base, but Crawdads reliever Robby Ahlstrom recorded the final out on Brock Jones to push Hickory to a 2-1 victory.
Leury Tejada (2-2) notched the win, striking out three and walking two over 3.0 no-hit innings. Goss (3-3) took the loss, tossing 5.0 innings while letting up two runs on five hits with three strikeouts and a walk. Ahlstrom (2) collected the save, recording a walk over a scoreless ninth.
