Mario Lisson knocked in five runs to lead the Richmond Flying Squirrels (54-37) to a, 9-4, victory over the Akron RubberDucks on Tuesday night at The Diamond. With the win, the Squirrels level the four-game series and restore their Western Division lead to three games.
The Squirrels notched the first run of the night against right-hander Duke von Schamman in the second inning. Devin Harris roped a two-out double through the alley in left-center field to spark the inning. Ricky Oropesa followed and laced a double along the same path. Harris scored for a 1-0 lead.
With the aid of three Akron errors, the Squirrels padded their lead with three additional runs in the third. With one out, von Schamman plunked Tyler Graham. von Schamman then threw errantly trying to pick off Graham. He advanced to third base on the error and scored when Kelby Tomlinson singled back through the middle. von Schamman then replicated his throwing error, moving Tomlinson around to third base. Matt Duffy then reached on a fielding error. Lisson followed the third miscue of the frame and cranked a two-run double to left-center field to give the Squirrels a 4-0 lead.
Meanwhile, right-hander Austin Fleet cruised through the first four innings. He blinked for the first time in the fifth inning with two outs. Cody Ferrell notched a two-out single. He then stole second base and scored Akron’s first run when Francisco Lindor doubled to left-center.
The Squirrels broke the game open and chased von Schamman in the bottom of the fifth. Graham got things started with a bunt-single. Tomlinson followed and stroked an RBI triple into the right-field corner. Duffy then drew a walk preceding a three-run home run from Lisson. His team-leading 11th of the season stayed just fair inside the right-field foul pole and gave Richmond an 8-1 lead.
von Schamman (3-4) took the loss over four innings plus four batters. He was charged with eight runs – seven earned – on eight hits. He walked one and struck out two.
A Richmond error allowed the RubberDucks back into the game in the sixth. Fleet walked two aboard and was lifted with one out in the inning. jake lowery greeted incoming lefty Josh Osich with a soft-single to center field. Graham threw the ball back in from center and Oropesa cut it off. He tried to throw behind the runner at second base and threw the ball errantly. It nearly rolled all the way to the fence with all three runners scoring on the three-base error.
Fleet (6-1) was charged with three runs – two earned – over 5 1/3 innings. He walked three and struck out a season-high seven as he earned his sixth victory.
jarrett parker capped the scoring for the evening when he clubbed his eighth home run in the seventh inning. The solo-shot to right field came at the expense of righty Jordan Cooper and put the Squirrels in front, 9-4.
Osich worked through the seventh inning without further incident. He walked the first two batters in the eighth, but lefty Phil McCormick relieved him and cleaned up the inning. Right-hander Cody Hall finished off the win in a non-save situation, handling the ninth.
Game three of the four-game series is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at The Diamond on Wednesday night. Richmond LHP Kelvin Marte (7-3, 3.78) will make the start against Akron RHP Joe Colon (8-4, 2.79). The Flying Squirrels Pregame Warmup begins at 6:35 p.m. on Sports Radio 910 and SportsRadio910.com.
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