Altoona Hit Parade Outlasts Erie Comeback Bid
July 7, 2023 - Eastern League (EL)
Erie SeaWolves News Release
Erie's late comeback bid came up short in an 8-7 loss to Altoona on Friday.
The SeaWolves struck first against Altoona starter Aaron Shortridge with two first-inning runs. Trei Cruz led off with a first-pitch double. Justice Bigbie scored him with a single. Later, Diego Rincones notched an RBI single and Erie led 2-0 after a half inning.
Altoona came back immediately against Brant Hurter. The first two batters reached on a walk and a double. Hurter got two outs in the frame, but allowed consecutive run-scoring singles to Matt Fraizer and Jacob Gonzalez to tie the game at two.
Frazier and Gonzalez roped consecutive doubles with two out in the third against Hurter, giving Altoona a 3-2 lead. They scored twice more in the fourth on a run-scoring passed ball by Julio Rodriguez and later an RBI single by Jackson Glenn.
Hurter lasted 4.1 innings. He allowed five runs on a career-high 11 hits. Altoona wound up with 17 hits in the game. Hurter (4-4) took the loss. Altoona scored a sixth run off reliever Tim Naughton in the sixth on Matt Gorski's RBI single.
Erie's offense quieted against Shortridge following the first. Shortridge (5-5) wound up throwing seven innings on 80 pitches and allowed just a single in the fifth inning to Danny Serretti after Erie's three-hit, two-run first.
Austin Bergner allowed two more runs in the seventh inning on four hits. After Fraizer notched his third hit and stole both second and third, Tsung-Che Cheng hit an RBI triple. Claudio Finol scored Cheng with his second double of the game, making it 8-2.
Erie then started to claw back against the Altoona bullpen. Gage Workman and Cruz hit consecutive two-out singles against reliever Cameron Junker in the eighth. Bigbie then reached on an RBI infield single which scored a second run on Glenn's errant throw from third base. Dillon Dingler then scored Bigbie with a single, making it 8-5.
Braeden Ogle entered for Altoona in the ninth and walked both Chris Meyers and Rincones to begin the frame. A wild pitch moved both into scoring position. Serretti and Julio Rodriguez then hit consecutive sacrifice flies, each scoring a run, to cut Altoona's lead to 8-7. Gage Workman then struck out to end the game, allowing Ogle to secure his second save.
The series continues on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. as Lael Lockhart opposes Omar Cruz.
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