Richmond moved to a season-high eight games above .500 with a 4-1 win over Erie on Friday night at Jerry Uht Park. Ricky Oropesa snapped a 1-1 tie in the seventh with a two-run homer to propel Richmond to their sixth consecutive victory.
Starting pitcher Adalberto Mejia earned the win with a season-high eight strikeouts over seven innings. The Squirrels will attempt to match the franchise winning streak of seven with Joe Biagini on the mound Saturday night in game three of the series.
The Squirrels once again struck first to begin the game against the SeaWolves. Rando Moreno yanked a double to the left and Hunter Cole followed with a lined double to right center field for a 1-0 advantage. The double extended Cole’s hitting streak to eight consecutive games. Erie quickly countered in the bottom of the first to tie the game at one on consecutive hits from Wynton Bernard and Jeff McVaney
Starting pitchers Adalberto Mejia (5-2) and Josh Turley exchanged zeroes through the middle innings prior to Oropesa’s homer. Mejia struck out the side in the fourth and allowed six hits over seven innings on 99 pitches. Turley was just as effective prior to the homer from Oropesa. Turley lasted eight innings and allowed five hits with six strikeouts in the loss.
Engel Beltre extended his hitting streak to 15 consecutive games with an infield single in the ninth. The Squirrels added a run for a 4-1 advantage in the ninth on an RBI double form Austin Slater. Kyle Crick earned the hold with a scoreless eighth inning. Jose Cassila picked up his third save with a scoreless ninth.
The Squirrels continue the road trip in Erie on Saturday against the SeaWolves. Richmond RHP Joe Biagini (8-5-, 1.91) will start for the Squirrels against Erie RHP Tommy Collier (3-0, 2.24). First pitch is set for 7:05PM with the Flying Squirrels Pregame Warmup starting at 6:35PM on Fox Sports 910 and FoxSportsRichmond.com.
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Chris Graham
