Squirrels Walk Off Again

The SeaWolves dropped the series finale to the Richmond Flying Squirrels by a 5-4 final in 10 innings on Sunday afternoon at The Diamond. The loss drops the SeaWolves to two games back of the Squirrels in the Southwest Division with 12 games to play in the first half.

The SeaWolves took the lead in the top of the second against Richmond starter Kei-Wei Teng. Parker Meadows drew a two-out walk to keep the inning alive and Eric De La Rosa doubled him home on a ball to the gap in right-center for a 1-0 advantage.

Richmond tied the game in the bottom of the second against Erie starter Reese Olson. Tyler Fitzgerald walked with one out and stole second. He scored on a two-out Armani Smith double.

Erie regained the lead in the fourth. Quincy Nieporte led off with a single and moved to second on an Andre Lipcius walk. Nieporte scored on a one-out Parker Meadows single for a 2-1 lead. The hit extended Meadows hitting streak to seven straight games.

Olson would exit after four innings in a no-decision effort. He allowed a run on four hits with a walk and nine strikeouts.

Richmond took the lead in the last of the fifth against Erie reliver Nick Kuzia. Franklin Labour walked with one out and was doubled home by Jacob Heyward, tying the game. Will Wilson homered to straight away center with two outs making it a 4-2 game. It was the third home run hit by Wilson in the series.

The SeaWolves got one back in the sixth. They loaded the bases on a Nieporte walk, Lipcius base hit and Dillon Dingler walk. Meadows brought home Nieporte on a sacrifice fly off of reliever Ryan Walker making it a 4-3 game. Erie would go on to re-load the bases but failed to score any additional runs.

Erie tied the game in the top of the ninth inning off of reliever R.J. Dabovich when Dane Myers homered to left with one out. It was the eighth home run of the season for Myers.

The SeaWolves failed to score in the top of the 10th inning, sending the game tied into the bottom of the 10th. Mike Gigliotti was the free runner on second against Zac Houston. Houston struck out Heyward for the first out but Gigliotti stole third. Erie played the numbers, intentionally loading the bases for Diego Rincones, setting up a force at any base. Rincones singled to center, scoring the winning run.

Dabovich (4-1) earned the win allowing a run on two hits in two innings.

Houston (0-2) took the loss allowing an unearned run on one hit.