SeaWolves Walk-Off in July 3 Thriller

The Erie SeaWolves rallied back in the rubber match with a 6-4 victory over the Akron RubberDucks in 10 innings on Sunday at UPMC Park.

Akron opened the scoring in the third. Brayan Rocchio led off the frame with a walk against Markus Solbach. George Valera brought in Rocchio with an RBI triple. Micah Pries singled to left to drive in Valera and give the ‘Ducks a 2-0 lead.

Akron pulled ahead 3-0 in the fifth after back-to-back doubles from Pries and Chris Roller.

Erie had its first baserunner in the bottom of the fifth. Wenceel Perez reached on an error from Jose Tena. Dane Myers and Andrew Navigato both hit singles off of Gavin Williams to load the bases. Perez then scored on a passed ball from Eric Rodriguez to cut the deficit to 3-1.

The ‘Ducks added a run in the seventh. Valera worked a one-out walk. Pries advanced Valera to third with a single. Pries came around to score on a wild pitch to put Akron ahead, 4-1.

The SeaWolves delivered three unanswered runs in the ninth. Parker Meadows greeted Carlos Vargas with a triple. Dillon Dingler entered the game as a pinch hitter and lifted a sac fly. Perez worked a walk and two batters later Andrew Navigato advanced to first on a wild pitch after striking out. Chris Rabago was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Gage Workman then poked a two-run single to tie the game 4-4.

Andre Lipcius walked the SeaWolves off in the tenth inning. He cranked a two-run blast against Thomas Ponticelli, scoring Daniel Cabrera from second to put Erie ahead 6-4. It was the SeaWolves seventh walk-off win this year and first since Perez’s RBI double on Tuesday.

Billy Lescher (1-0) earned the win with two shutout innings in relief. He allowed a hit, and did not walk or struck out a batter. It was his first victory since July 13, 2021 against Bowie.

Ponticelli (0-2) received the loss. He did not record an out and allowed two runs, one of which was earned.