The Flying Squirrels (42-60) completed a three-game sweep of the Akron RubberDucks (54-51) with a 6-5 win at Canal Park on Wednesday afternoon. Richmond used a five-run sixth inning to secure their fourth consecutive win and close out a 4-3 road trip. Kyle Crick (3-8) picked up the win and struck out a season-high eight batters over 6 1/3 innings of work. Chase Johnson tossed a scoreless ninth inning for his second save in the series.
Nick Pasquale was sharp for Akron over the first five innings of the day as Richmond mustered a pair of hits in the third inning but could not convert. Tyler Horan singled on a ground ball into center field and Jeff Arnold poked a base hit to right. With one out, Pasquale then punched out Steven Duggar and C. J Hinojosa to end the attacked.
Kyle Crick kept Akron off balance for most of the afternoon. Crick worked around a walk in the second inning and a base hit in the third. Claudio Bautista singled with one out in the third and Crick struck out the next two hitters to end the inning. Crick tossed 47 pitches through the first three frames. Crick struck out two more batters in the fourth and one more in the fifth to eclipse his previous season-high of seven strikeouts. Crick hurled 73 pitches over the first five innings,
The contest remained scoreless until Richmond erupted for five runs in the sixth inning. C.J Hinojosa singled to initiate the rally and Ryder Jones followed with a walk. Pasquale then set the next two batters down, but walked Chris Shaw to load the bases. Akron opted to remove Pasquale for reliever Louis Head to face Brandon Bednar. Bednar knocked a two-strike pitch into left field, plating a pair for a 2-0 lead. Head then walked Tyler Horan to reload the bases, and Jeff Arnold then drew a walk for a 3-0 lead. Steven Duggar capped the inning with a two-run single for a 5-0 advantage. Pasquale (1-4) suffered the loss by allowing three runs on four hits. Pasquale struck out seven and walked two in the defeat.
Crick worked into the seventh and left with runners on base. Nellie Rodriguez drew a walk to open the inning and with one out, Richmond failed to execute on a potential double play. That allowed Daniel Salters to put Akron on the board with double down the right field line, trimming the Richmond lead to 5-2. Todd Hankins then ended Crick’s outing with an infield base hit. Richmond brought in Preston Claiborne with runners on and one out to relief Crick. Claiborne was close to getting out of the inning until Gregg Allen struck for a two-run single to pull to within one, 5-4. Crick (3-8) earned the win and struck out a season-high eight batters in the victory. Crick lasted 6 1/3 innings and allowed four runs (one earned) on three hits.
Richmond added an insurance run for a 6-4 lead in the top of the eighth. Steven Duggar delivered a sacrifice fly, scoring Chris Shaw with the bases loaded. Claiborne returned for the bottom of the eighth and yielded a sole home run to Nellie Rodriguez, 6-5.
Chase Johnson closed out the game with a scoreless ninth.
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