Flying Squirrels drop second straight against 'Ducks

RICHMOND, Va. – Held to five hits, the Richmond Flying Squirrels suffered a 10-3 defeat against the Akron RubberDucks Saturday night at The Diamond.

Richmond (16-10) struck out 14 times Saturday night against four Akron pitchers and were scoreless until the ninth inning.

The RubberDucks (13-13) took a 4-0 lead in the first inning against Richmond starter Jake Dahlberg (Loss, 2-1) with a sacrifice fly and two run-scoring hits.

In the third inning, Bo Naylor lifted an RBI double to center and later scored off a Richmond fielding error that upped the Akron advantage to 6-0.

With the bases loaded in the fifth, Chris Roller brought in a run with a groundout to first. Eric Rodriguez smacked a two-RBI single and pushed the RubberDucks to a 9-0 lead.

Julian Escobedo grew the RubberDucks’ lead to 10-0 in the sixth with an RBI single.

First Double-A homer for @RobertEmery_44 💥 pic.twitter.com/cNEIiISdgR

— Richmond Flying Squirrels (@GoSquirrels) May 8, 2022

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Robert Emery broke the shutout with a three-run homer to right that closed the score to 10-3. It was Emery’s first Double-A home run and the 34th on the season for the team.

Akron starter Hunter Gaddis (Win, 2-1) struck out nine batters over five innings while allowing four total baserunners. Relivers Manuel Alvarez, Luis Oviedo and Richmond native Nic Enright each had scoreless outings while combining for three strikeouts.

Richmond relievers Tyler Schimpf and Ryan Walker had scoreless appearances. Walker struck out the side in the ninth inning and was one of three Richmond pitchers who had three strikeouts on the night.

The series concludes on Sunday afternoon at The Diamond. Right-hander Kai-Wei Teng (0-2, 4.50) will start for Richmond, opposed by Akron lefty Logan Allen (1-1, 2.05).

The Flying Squirrels will celebrate Mother’s Day on Sunday with Funnville Family Day. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. with gates opening at noon. Kids ages 14 & under are invited to play catch on the field before every Sunday home game presented by Nesquik from 12:15-12:35 p.m. All kids ages 14 & under are invited to Kids Run the Bases presented by Richmond Family Magazine following the conclusion of the game.

Tickets are available online at SquirrelsBaseball.com/Tickets, by phone at 804-359-3866 or in person at the Flying Squirrels ticket office.