Squirrels fall behind early, lose to 'Ducks

RICHMOND, Va. – The Richmond Flying Squirrels fell to the Akron RubberDucks, 8-3, on Saturday night at The Diamond.

The Flying Squirrels (0-2) fell behind, 6-0, through the first three innings to the RubberDucks (2-0).

Against Manuel Mercedes (Loss, 0-1) in the top of the first, C.J. Kayfus hit an RBI triple and Jorge Burgos added a two-run homer to open a 3-0 lead.

Travis Bazzana belted his first Double-A homer, a two-run shot, in the top of the second to extend Akron’s lead to 5-0. Cameron Barstad singled in a run in third and Kayfus hit an RBI double in the sixth to open a 7-0 lead.

RBI #1 of the year for Zach Morgan! pic.twitter.com/LXUVgjd8Cj

— Richmond Flying Squirrels (@GoSquirrels) April 6, 2025

Richmond broke the shutout in the seventh. Diego Velasquez scored on a wild pitch and Zach Morgan hit an RBI single to cut the deficit to 7-2. Justin Wishkoski worked a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the eighth to pull the Flying Squirrels within four.

Burgos extended Akron’s lead back to five runs in the top of the ninth with a run-scoring groundout.

Akron starter Austin Peterson allowed one hit over four scoreless innings. Ross Carver (Win, 1-0) threw two scoreless frames and struck out three.

The season-opening series concludes on Sunday afternoon at 1:35 p.m. with Squirrel Tails Kids Club Welcome Day and a Youth T-shirt giveaway for the first 1,000 kids ages 14 and younger presented by Atlantic Union Bank. Fans are invited to play catch on the field from 12:45-1:05 p.m. Following the game, kids 14 and younger can run the bases presented by Richmond Family Magazine.

Tickets are on sale online at SquirrelsBaseball.com/Tickets, by phone at 804-359-FUNN (3866) or in person at the Flying Squirrels ticket office.