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Richmond Flying Squirrels close out regular season with 1-0 shutout of Erie SeaWolves

Chris Graham

richmond flying squirrels A strong pitching performance propelled the Richmond Flying Squirrels to a 1-0 shutout win over the Erie SeaWolves in the final game of the 2023 regular season on Sunday afternoon at UPMC Park.

The Flying Squirrels (74-64, 41-28), the Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, picked up a series win against the SeaWolves (75-62, 38-31), the Double-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, with the victory and ended the regular season winning four-of-the-final-five series.

Scoreless in the top of the seventh, Erie reliever Trevin Michael (Loss, 0-1) issued a double and two walks to load the bases. Will Wilson worked a five-pitch walk to bring home Carter Aldrete from third to move Richmond ahead, 1-0.

Blake Rivera stranded two baserunners in the bottom of the seventh and posted two strikeouts. Evan Gates (Save, 6) issued a pair of walks in the eighth inning but stranded both runners.

Erie notched a leadoff single in the bottom of the ninth, but Gates responded with a strikeout and two flyouts to secure the victory.

Over four innings, Richmond starter Wil Jensen held the SeaWolves to one baserunner and struck out two. After allowing a single in the first inning, Jensen retired 11 batters in a row to conclude his regular season.

Reliever Hunter Dula (Win, 1-0) followed with a scoreless sixth and seventh inning with a strikeout and a pickoff.

Erie starter Jackson Jobe gave up four hits over six scoreless innings and totaled six strikeouts in his Double-A debut.

Game 1 of the best-of-three Southwest Division Series will be played on Tuesday as the Flying Squirrels host the SeaWolves at The Diamond. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.

Tickets for the Flying Squirrels’ home playoff games are available online at SquirrelsBaseball.com/Tickets, by phone at 804-359-FUNN (3866) or in person at the Flying Squirrels ticket office. In the event that any Championship Series games are not played, fans who purchase tickets will receive a credit which can be used for tickets to a Flying Squirrels home game in 2024.

Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019, and Team of Destiny: Inside Virginia Basketball’s Run to the 2019 National Championship, and The Worst Wrestling Pay-Per-View Ever, published in 2018. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, or subscribe to his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].