Hjelle pitches Squirrels to seventh straight win

The Richmond Flying Squirrels picked up their seventh consecutive win, matching a franchise record, with a 4-1 victory over the Harrisburg Senators on Wednesday night at FNB Field behind a strong start by Sean Hjelle.

The Flying Squirrels (7-1) matched previous seven-game win streaks from April 27-May 3, 2010 and June 20-26, 2014.

Hjelle (1-0) did not allow a run until the sixth inning, throwing the longest outing for a Flying Squirrels starter this year so far. Over 5.1 innings, he finished his night allowing one run on three hits with two walks and six strikeouts.

The Flying Squirrels scored first off an RBI groundout from Frankie Tostado that scored Heliot Ramos. The Squirrels have scored in the first inning in each of their last five games.

Tostado ended the night with a 2-for-4 performance with two doubles, two runs and one RBI.

Richmond pushed the lead to 2-0 in the fourth inning when Andres Angulo lofted a double to right field, scoring Tostado from second base.

In the sixth inning, Tostado lead off with a double and Shane Matheny brought him home with an RBI single, advancing the score to 3-0.

The Senators broke onto the scoreboard in the sixth inning when Jackson Cluff hit his first home run of the year, cutting Richmond’s lead to 3-1. After Hjelle exited, Luis Amaya allowed a single before recording back-to-back strikeouts to strand the bases loaded.

In the top of the ninth, Kyle Mottice scored on a throwing error to extend Richmond’s lead to 4-1.

Amaya, Frank Rubio, Raffi Vizcaíno and Norwith Gudino (Save, 2) combined for 3.2 innings out of the bullpen allowing one hit, no walks and five strikeouts.

Richmond takes on Harrisburg for game three of the series Thursday with a first pitch time of 6:30 p.m. at FNB Field. Right-hander Matt Frisbee (1-0, 0.00) is projected to start for Richmond with right-hander Sterling Sharp (0-1, 10.13) expected for Harrisburg.

The Flying Squirrels’ next homestand is May 18-23 against the Bowie Baysox. Tickets are available online at Squirrelsbaseball.com/Tickets, by phone at 804-359-3866 or at the Flying Squirrels ticket office.