Erie Triumphs in 3-2 Nail Biter, Wins Seventh Straight Series

Joey Wentz earns the win in his Erie debut, Josh Lester slugs his 15th homer of the year

August 4, 2019

ERIE, PA - The Erie SeaWolves (64-47, 33-12) remained atop the Western Division, defeating the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (49-63, 18-27) in the rubber game 3-2 on Sunday afternoon at UPMC Park. With Bowie winning as well, the SeaWolves maintained their two-game lead in the second-half standings.New Hampshire struck first

ERIE, PA - The Erie SeaWolves (64-47, 33-12) remained atop the Western Division, defeating the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (49-63, 18-27) in the rubber game 3-2 on Sunday afternoon at UPMC Park. With Bowie winning as well, the SeaWolves maintained their two-game lead in the second-half standings.
New Hampshire struck first in the second inning off of Erie starter, Joey Wentz. The Fisher Cats leadoff man Nash Knight hit a 2-2 pitch out to left-center and gave his team a 1-0.
After going 3.2 innings without a base runner, Erie's response came against New Hampshire starter, Nate Pearson with two outs in the bottom of the fourth. A Jose Azocar single to right extended the inning for Josh Lester who belted his team-leading 15^th home run of the season onto Holland St. in right field to give Erie a 2-1 lead. The SeaWolves would not trail from that point on.
Wentz hurled three more scoreless innings as Erie added the deciding run in the fifth. Sergio Alcántara led off with a walk and advanced to third on a Chace Numata single. The next batter, Derek Hill, lined a single through the left side to make it 3-1.
The Fisher Cats drew within one in the seventh, all with two outs and the bases cleared. Andres Sotillo singled and Josh Palacios followed with an RBI triple to bring the Erie advantage to 3-2.
In his Erie debut, Wentz (1-0) twirled five innings and allowed one earned run on four hits while striking out six and walking two.
Pearson took the loss (0-4) after surrendering all three earned runs on six hits in five innings. He retired 11 in a row to begin the game.
Alex Lange also made his SeaWolves debut and allowed one earned run in two innings of relief with three strikeouts.
Nolan Blackwood kept New Hampshire silent in the eighth and struck out one.
Drew Carlton worked a scoreless ninth to secure his 14^th save of the season in as many opportunities.
Next, the SeaWolves hit the road for a six-game, eight-day road trip that begins on Tuesday, August 6 against the Portland Sea Dogs at Hadlock Field. RHP Casey Mize (6-1, 2.76 ERA) goes in the series opener against LHP Daniel McGrath (3-0, 1.46 ERA) at 7:00 p.m. EDT. The game can be heard on Fox Sports Radio AM 1330 WFNN, the TuneIn App, or SeaWolves.com