Squirrels sweep two from Akron

The Flying Squirrels (53-71) swept the Akron RubberDucks (62-62) in a doubleheader on Saturday night at The Diamond.

The suspended game one picked up in the top of the second inning at 4:05 p.m and ended with a 9-7 Squirrels victory. In game two, Squirrels starter Dan Slania tossed a complete-game shutout to secure a 2-0 victory and the doubleheader sweep.

 

Game One

Prior to the suspension due to rain, the Squirrels tagged Akron’s starting pitcher Luis Lugo for seven earned runs on five hits in the bottom of the first inning. Lugo exited in the first inning with two outs and a runner on third base.

Flying Squirrels starter Nate Reed started off the game strong working a 1-2-3 first inning and began the second inning with two walks prior to the rain delay. Carlos Alvarado picked it up in the top of the second inning with two runners on and got three straight outs to get out of the inning.

Akron would get on the board in the top of the third inning on a bases-loaded walk issued by Alvarado. Alvarado would allow four earned runs over 2.1 innings on the walk and a two-run RBI single from Joe Sever. Akron cut the Squirrels lead to three runs, 7-4.

Seth Rosin would give the Squirrels 1.2 innings of relief allowing two hits while walking two and striking out two to eventually earn the win. Rosin would hand the ball to Ryan Halstead who would enter in the top of the sixth. Halsted worked a 1-2-3 inning in the sixth and allowed one earned run on a solo home run from Mike Papi, which would shrink the Squirrels lead to two runs, 7-5.

Akron relief pitcher and Virginia native D.J. Brown quieted the Squirrels bats throwing 4.0 scoreless innings in relief allowing just one hit while striking out four batters.

Myles Schroder gave the Squirrels some much-needed insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh inning smacking his sixth home run of the season. The two-run homer put the Squirrels up 9-5.

Tyler Cyr entered in the top of the ninth inning and completed his 17th save in 19 opportunities this season. Rosin picked up the win and moved to 2-1 on the season. With the win, the Squirrels also snapped a three-game losing streak.

 

Game Two

Squirrels starting pitcher Dan Slania threw a complete-game shutout allowing just two hits over seven innings to secure a 2-0 victory for Richmond. Slania struck out seven batters and retired the last 10 batters that he faced. The Squirrels produced their two runs on an error and an infield base hit.

Akron starter Matt Whitehouse did not allow a hit until the fourth inning when C.J. Hinojosa finally connected on a fastball for a base hit to left field.

The Squirrels would get on the board in the bottom of the fifth inning on an error by the shortstop Yu Cheng, scoring Hunter Cole from third. The next batter, Rando Moreno, would hit a hard ground ball to the third baseman that produced another run in K.C. Hobson.