Senators Squander Big Lead, Manage to Still Hang on in Ten Innings to Beat RubberDucks 13-12
Harrisburg, Pa. (April 7, 2026) – The Senators led the RubberDucks 10-1 after just three innings, but Akron battled back to force extra innings in a 12-12 tie. INF Cortland Lawson drove in OF Jonathon Thomas with a groundball single up the middle to walk off the game, winning 13-12.
Harrisburg, Pa. (April 7, 2026) – The Senators led the RubberDucks 10-1 after just three innings, but Akron battled back to force extra innings in a 12-12 tie. INF Cortland Lawson drove in OF Jonathon Thomas with a groundball single up the middle to walk off the game, winning 13-12.
The early stages of the game were all Harrisburg with the Sens having plated one run in the first, five in the second, and four in the third. OF Sam Petersen hit a three-run homer in the second—his first Senators home run—and added an RBI double in the third.
In all, INF Sam Brown drove in one, INF Seaver King drove in two, INF Cayden Wallace drove in three including a 430-foot home run in the seventh, INF Kevin Made drove in a run, and INF Cortland Lawson had the deciding RBI with the walk-off base hit in the tenth.
The Senators scored 13 runs on 14 hits while also drawing eight walks and three hit batsmen.
All that offense was hardly enough to fend off the RubberDucks. Akron plated seven runs in the sixth inning, capped off by Alex Mooney’s grand slam.
The RubberDucks added another three runs in the seventh to tie the game at 11. Then, after Wallace’s home run put the Sens back in front in the bottom of the seventh, Akron’s Angel Genao led the eighth off with an opposite-field home run to tie the game back up at 12.
RHP Sandy Gaston (1-0) pitched a scoreless ninth and tenth to set up the Senators for victory.
In the bottom of the tenth, Johnathon Thomas pinch ran for C Caleb Lomavita. Thomas stole third with no one out.
Thomas was still at third with two outs when Lawson sharply grounded a ball up the middle. Akron’s shortstop, Genao, ranged to his left and fielded the ball in shallow centerfield but had no play for the out and Thomas scored the winning run.
LHP Shinnosuke Ogasawara pitched well in his Harrisburg debut. He allowed four runs but only one earned while striking out nine in 5.1 innings.
The Senators are now 4-0 on the season; the RubberDucks are 3-1.
Harrisburg aims to continue its perfect start with game two of the series coming Wednesday, April 8, 6:30 p.m. RHP Eriq Swan is slated to make his Senators debut.