EL1 Richmond Flying Squirrels

Richmond Flying Squirrels Game Notes

Published on April 14, 2011 under Eastern League (EL1)
Richmond Flying Squirrels News Release


RICHMOND FLYING SQUIRRELS (4-3) VS. ALTOONA CURVE (3-4)

LHP ERIC SURKAMP (0-0, 0.00) VS. LHP AARON THOMPSON (1-0, 1.50)

April 14, 2011 -- 6:30 PM

Blair County Ballpark

Game #8/Road #1

Radio Broadcast -- Sports Radio 910 WRNL

Internet Webcast -- www.sportsradio910.com

TONIGHT: The Richmond Flying Squirrels and Altoona Curve will meet in the opener of a four-game series...The Bowie Baysox avoided a sweep as starter Zach Clark and two relievers limited the Flying Squirrels to just one run on five hits in a 4-1 win in front of 6,039 fans at The Diamond.

TONIGHT'S STARTERS: Left-hander Eric Surkamp gets the start in the series opener for the Flying Squirrels...Enters the season rated as the #9 prospect in the San Francisco Giants farm system according to Baseball America...Received a no-decision in his Double-A debut 4/8 against New Britain...Tossed four scoreless innings, allowing three hits...Struck out 10 batters and walked one...Matched a franchise record in strikeouts (David Mixon 7/16/10 vs. BOW)...Seventh career double-digit strikeout game...Struck out the side in the third and fourth innings...Struck out five straight batters from the third to fourth innings...Allowed the leadoff batter to reach in two of his four innings on the mound...Recorded two fly outs and no ground outs...Threw 71 pitches, 44 strikes...Threw 27 pitches, 15 strikes, in the third inning...Threw first-pitch strikes to seven of the 16 batters he faced...Threw five pitches or more to nine of the 16 batters he faced...Went three balls in the count to five of the first 12 batters he faced...Made 17 starts with Advanced-A San Jose in 2010 going 4-2 with a 3.11 ERA...Struck out 180 batters and walked 22 in 101 1/3 innings...Had season cut short after dislocating his hip attempting to field a ground ball 7/18/10 against Lancaster...Struck out a career-high 14 batters 7/7/10 at Stockton...Named a California League Mid-Season and Post Season All-Star...Twice named California League Pitcher of the Week...Spent all of 2009 with Low-A Augusta and went 11-5 with a 3.30 ERA in 23 starts...Struck out 169 batters and walked 39 in 131 innings, third-most strikeouts in all of MiLB...Selected in the 6th round of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft...Attended North Carolina State University...Went 11-11 with a 4.35 ERA in 50 games, including 44 starts, in his collegiate career at NC State.

Left-hander Aaron Thompson gets the nod in the series opener for the Curve...Allowed just one run on one hit in six innings 4/9 at Erie...Struck out two batters and walked one...Lone hit allowed came against the first batter he faced (Jamie Johnson single)...Retired 17 of the final 18 batters he faced...Victory was his first since 6/28/10 (11 starts)...Claimed by the Pittsburgh Pirates off of waivers 12/24/10...Went 4-13 with a 5.80 ERA in 26 starts with Harrisburg in 2010...Tied for the Eastern League lead with 13 losses, while allowing the second-most runs (96) and the sixth-most hits (164)...Made Triple-A debut in one spot-start with Syracuse 4/24/10 and earned the win...Allowed one run on five hits in five innings...Struck out four batters and walked three...Entered the 2010 season rates as the #12 prospect in the Washington Nationals farm system according to Baseball America....Acquired by the Nationals from the Florida Marlins in exchange for first baseman Nick Johnson July 31, 2009...Went 0-3 with a 3.31 ERA in six starts with Harrisburg in 2009...Began the season with Double-A Jacksonville and went 5-9 with a 4.11 ERA in 20 starts...Limited to only 18 total outings in 2008 due to a should injury...Went 2-5 with a 5.62 ERA in 16 starts with Double-A Carolina...Went 8-8 with a 3.63 ERA in 24 starts with Low-A Greensboro in 2006...Struck out 114 batters and walked 35 in 134 innings...Named a South Atlantic League Mid-Season All-Star...Originally selected by the Florida Marlins in the 1st round (#22 overall) of the 2005 First-Year Player Draft

CURVE BALL: The Flying Squirrels and the Altoona Curve meet for the first time in 2011 in their current four-game series...The two clubs will face each other 17 times this season including 11 meetings at Blair County Ballpark in Altoona...Last season, the Curve won 16 of the 26 meetings between the two teams...Richmond went 3-8 against Altoona at BCB while going 7-8 against the Curve at The Diamond.

WA-HOO-WA: First baseman Joe Koshansky hit his first home run of the season yesterday, a solo shot to right-center field...It was the second home run of the season hit by a Flying Squirrel batter...The University of Virginia product has hit 20-plus home runs in each of the last six seasons...It was his first home run in a Double-A game since 8/22/06 against the Springfield Cardinals while with the Tulsa Drillers...The 28-year-old has spent the previous four seasons in Triple-A and the Major Leagues.

ERROR REPORT: The Flying Squirrels had their string of errorless games end yesterday against Bowie as Juan Perez bobbled a ball in center field...The club had gone four consecutive games without an error...It was the fourth error of the season for Richmond...Three of the four occurred 4/8 against New Britain, the team's second game of the season...The Flying Squirrels four errors are tied for the third fewest in the Eastern League...Richmond is third in fielding percentage (.985) a week into the season.

SUN BURN: The Flying Squirrels dropped to 0-2 in their first two day games after yesterday's 4-1 loss to Bowie...Last season Richmond went 12-9 during day games including a 5-2 mark in day games at The Diamond.

ROOKIES IN THE ROTATION: A quartet of starters made their Double-A debuts for the Flying Squirrels during the first week of the season...Left-handers Eric Surkamp, Ryan Verdugo, and Thomas Vessella and right-hander Justin Fitzgerald combined to go 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA (4ER/20.0 IP) in their four starts, striking out 20 batters and walking five...Opponents hit just .169 (11-for-65) against the four in their first trips to the mound in 2011...Through seven games, Richmond starters are 3-2 with a 3.53 ERA.

Check out the Richmond Flying Squirrels Statistics

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Eastern League Stories from April 14, 2011


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