Squirrels shut out by SeaWolves on Thursday night

ERIE, Pa. – A shutout pitching effort from the Erie SeaWolves buried the Richmond Flying Squirrels in a 3-0 defeat Thursday night at UPMC Park.

It was the fourth shutout loss for the Flying Squirrels (56-54) this season.

Erie (62-54) jumped ahead, 2-0, in the bottom of the first inning with a leadoff homer by Daniel Cabrera. Later in the inning with runners at first and third, Andre Lipcius added a run with a sacrifice fly.

The Flying Squirrels’ best chance to score came in the fifth inning when Mitchell Tolman led off the frame with a double and advanced to third on a groundout, but Erie starter Beau Brieske (Win, 3-1) came back with a strikeout to strand the runner.

After no runs came across for either team for five straight innings, Cabrera made it a 3-0 lead for the SeaWolves with an RBI single to left field in the seventh.

After allowing two runs and three hits in the first inning, Aaron Blair (Loss, 0-3) held Erie of the scoreboard the next four innings. Blair went 5.0 total innings with no walks two strikeouts in his final start of the season.

Gerson Garabito allowed one run off three hits through 2.1 innings in relief while striking out five of the 10 batters he faced.

Brieske held the Flying Squirrels scoreless over 6.0 innings with four hits and struck out four batters. He retired nine of the first 11 batters along with three strikeouts.

Chavez Fernander (Save, 3) notched 3.0 innings with one baserunner allowed, a base hit from Jacob Heyward, and struck out four to secure the shutout.

The Richmond offense has gone 1-for-21 with runners in scoring position through three games in the series.

The road trip continues Friday in Erie with a 6:05 p.m. scheduled first pitch. Right-handed pitcher Trenton Toplikar (2-7, 5.08) will make the start for the Flying Squirrels opposed by right-hander Reese Olson (1-1, 5.79) for the SeaWolves.

The team opens next season on April 8, 2022 at Bowie and will host their home opener on April 12, 2022 at The Diamond against Altoona.