The Bowling Green Hot Rods got a big bounce back Thursday, holding on for a 5-4 win over the Winston-Salem Dash at Bowling Green Ballpark.

Bowling Green squandered an early lead before regaining control on a homer from Brayden Taylor. The razor-thin win came one night after Winston-Salem rallied for a 3-2 win with two runs in the ninth.

“Those games are very tough,” BG manager Rafael Valenzuela said. “They are tough to swallow, but a phenomenal job by the entire team today to go home, kind of flush it down the toilet, come back and bounce back.”

Bowling Green (52-40 overall, 16-10 second half) jumped out to a fast start with four runs in the first inning. Taylor’s RBI double got the Hot Rods on the board, scoring on an RBI double from Cooper Kinney. Colton Ledbetter doubled the lead with his 12th homer of the season, a two-run shot that made the score 4-0.

Winston-Salem (44-49, 13-14) started to chip away, nearly erasing the deficit on a three-run homer from Caden Conner in the third. One inning later, the Dash were able to tie it on an RBI single from Bryce Willits.

It remained 4-4 until the sixth, when Taylor connected for his 15th homer of the season. That lead would hold up – with the BG bullpen tossing five shutout innings. Jake Christianson (3-1) earned the win, allowing one hit and one walk with four strikeouts in three innings.

Sean Harney worked around three hits over the final two innings to earn his first save of the season.

Taylor paced the offense with two of the Hot Rods seven hits.

“The one thing I do love about this group is there is absolutely no panic,” Valenzuela said. “We will get the lead and they might scratch a few back, but there is no panic in this group. They do what they have to do, play their game and they showed it tonight.”

FOR STARTERST.J. Fondtain continued his transition to the starting rotation, making his fourth start since July 1 after previously being used exclusively out of the bullpen.

And while Fondtain allowed four runs in four innings on Thursday, he did finish with a career-high seven strikeouts. Valenzuela said the early returns have been positive for Fondtain.

“I am very pleased with what I have seen,” Valenzuela said. “I’m excited to see how much he grows in that role. I know he’s got some history (as a starter) back in college. I am good friends with his head coach from college, so I texted him. He said, ‘He is as advertised,’ so I am really excited to watch him grow in that role.”

Fondtain’s shift is just part of a pitching staff in rotation with injuries and promotions putting roles in flux.

“This is the time of year where guys get the opportunity to go up,” Valenzuela said. “Lucky for us, we’ve lost a few guys and they’ve earned it. They earned the promotion, but like we told (our pitching staff) it is time for somebody to step up and get into that role. Nobody really has a role here. The one thing that we do tell the pitchers is come to the park ready to pitch. We might use you in the third. We might use you in the seventh. We don’t know. We might use you in the ninth. Come ready to pitch and come ready to take on that role.”

UP NEXTThe series continues at 6:35 p.m. on Friday.

Right-hander Chandler Murphy (2-1, 1.71) is scheduled to start for the Hot Rods. He will be making his fifth start since joining the Hot Rods on June 25.

Murphy has tossed 11 consecutive no-hit innings over his last two starts, walking two and striking out nine.

Right-hander Juan Carela (3-4, 3.66) is scheduled to start for the Dash. Carela will be making his third start against Bowling Green this season. He tossed five one-hit innings at Bowling Green Ballpark on April 19 and allowed two runs over six innings in a loss to the Hot Rods on May 24.