Squirrels win in 13th to end late night at Diamond

With the game tied, 10-10, in the 13th inning, Peter Maris lined a single to deep right field to plate Johneshwy Fargas and give the Richmond Flying Squirrels the win, 11-10, over the Erie SeaWolves on Wednesday at The Diamond in front of 9,256 fans.

Erie (73-53, 42-18) won the second game of the series, which was completed on Wednesday after it was suspended on Tuesday, 7-3, in 10 innings.

The Flying Squirrels won four of the five games during the homestand, earning back-to-back series wins. Each of the three games against Erie went to extra innings.

Wednesday’s games were the 18th and 19th extra-inning games for Richmond (48-79, 25-35) this season, establishing a new franchise-record for most extra-inning games in a single season.

GAME ONE

Erie took an early lead on a solo home run by Cam Gibson in the second inning before Maris blasted a solo home run to right field against Matt Manning in the bottom of the second inning to knot the score.

Brandon Lawson allowed one run on three hits in 4.2 innings before the game was delayed due to rain in the top of the fifth inning. The game resumed, but was later suspended with the score tied, 1-1, in the top of the eight inning.

Neither team was able to score until the 10th inning, when the SeaWolves struck for six runs on five hits against Raffi Vizcaino (Loss, 0-5).

Erie took the lead on the first pitch of the inning, when Cole Peterson scored on a throwing error by Maris after he fielded a bunt by Chace Numata. Dylan Rosa followed with a double before Derek Hill singled to load the bases. Isaac Paredes collected the fourth straight hit of the inning for the SeaWolves, an RBI single to put Erie up, 4-1. Kody Eaves capped the scoring later in the inning with a three-run home run.

The Flying Squirrels battled back in the bottom of the 10th. After Jacob Heyward singled to move the placed runner Joey Bart to third base, Gio Brusa brought him home with a fielder’s choice groundout against Nolan Blackwood (Win, 6-4). Brusa later scored on a sacrifice fly from Maris before Ryan Howard grounded out to shortstop to end the game.

GAME TWO

The Flying Squirrels and SeaWolves traded single runs in the 10th, 11th and 12th innings before Richmond triumphed in the 13th inning.

Matt Winn (Win, 1-1) retired the SeaWolves in order in the top of the 13th to give the Flying Squirrels a chance to earn a walk-off win with one run in the bottom of the inning.

After starting the inning at second base as the placed runner, Fargas stole third base when Alex Lange (Loss, 1-1) walked Jacob Heyward, putting runners on the corners with zero outs.

Two batters later, Maris roped Lange’s 0-1 pitch over Rosa’s head in right field to give Richmond its sixth walk-off win of the season and third walk-off win of the homestand.

Erie started the scoring in the first inning, when Josh Lester smacked a two-run homer against Sean Hjelle. The SeaWolves added two runs in the third inning before Kody Clemens hit an RBI single in the fifth to put Erie up, 5-0.

Richmond battled back in the bottom of the fifth against Logan Shore. Following back-to-back bloop singles by Heliot Ramos and Jalen Miller, Gio Brusa clobbered a three-run homer over the right-field fence. It was Brusa’s team-leading 12th home run of the season.

The SeaWolves scored two more runs in the top of the sixth on an RBI single by Isaac Paredes to extend their lead to 7-3.

The Flying Squirrels tied the game in the bottom of the sixth. With the bases loaded and two outs, Miller crushed a 3-1 pitch from Mark Ecker to deep left-center field to drive in three and cut the deficit to one. Miller scored to tie the game later in the inning when Joey Bart struck out swinging on a pitch that got away from the catcher Numata. Miller advanced to third base on the wild pitch and scored when Numata’s throw to third bounced of Paredes’ mitt.

In the 10th inning, Erie pulled in front, 8-7, when Paredes drove in Numata with a single. Richmond tied the game with a run in the bottom of the 10th when Numata tried to pick off Johneshwy Fargas at third base and his throw hit Fargas in the back and bounced to left field.

Numata brought in Erie’s run in the 11th with an RBI groundout before Richmond tied the game ona sacrifice fly from Howard. Lester lofted a sacrifice fly in the 12th to put Erie back in front before the Flying Squirrels knotted the score, 10-10, on a first-pitch, RBI single by Miller.

Miller went 3-for-6 with a season-high four RBIs. Ramos scored three runs to tie a season high for runs by a single member of the Flying Squirrels.

Winn, a catcher, threw three innings, allowing two unearned runs on one hit to earn his first career win.

The Flying Squirrels begin an eight-game road trip with the first game of a four-game series against the Akron RubberDucks on Thursday at Canal Park. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m., and coverage begins with the Flying Squirrels Pregame Warmup at 6:35 p.m. on Sports Radio 910 the Fan and 105.1 FM.

Following an eight-game road trip, the Flying Squirrels return to The Diamond on Friday, August 30, to begin the final homestand of the season, featuring four games against the Bowie Baysox. For tickets or more information, call 804-359-3866 (FUNN), visit SquirrelsBaseball.com/Tickets or stop by the Flying Squirrels box office.