EL1 Richmond Flying Squirrels

Richmond Flying Squirrels Game Notes

June 9, 2011 - Eastern League (EL1)
Richmond Flying Squirrels News Release


RICHMOND FLYING SQUIRRELS (28-30) VS. PORTLAND SEA DOGS (20-37)

LHP ERIC SURKAMP (3-3, 1.92) VS. RHP ALEX WILSON (5-3, 2.62)

June 9, 2011 -- 7:00 PM

Hadlock Field

Game #59/Road #29

Radio Broadcast -- Sports Radio 910 WRNL

Internet Webcast -- www.sportsradio910.com

TONIGHT: The Richmond Flying Squirrels and Portland Sea Dogs will meet in the finale of a three-game series...The Flying Squirrels erupted for six runs in the top of the eighth inning as Richmond blew open a close game en route to a 9-3 win over the Sea Dogs in game two of the series on Wednesday night in front of 4,453 fans at Hadlock Field.

TONIGHT'S STARTERS: Left-hander Eric Surkamp gets the start in the series finale for the Flying Squirrels...Making his 12th start of the season...Enters the 2011 season rated as the #9 prospect in the San Francisco Giants farm system according to Baseball America...Suffered the loss in his last outing 6/3 against Reading...Allowed five runs on seven hits in 4 2/3 innings...Struck out five batters and walked two...Five runs allowed were a season high...Loss was his first since 4/20 at Trenton (seven starts)...Allowed five runs on six hits in his final 1 2/3 innings on the mound...Allowed one hit over three scoreless innings to start the game...Allowed the leadoff batter to reach in two of his five innings on the mound (scored once)...Recorded seven groundouts and one flyout/popout...Threw 95 pitches, 61 strikes...Threw 55 pitches over his final 1 2/3 innings including 34 pitches in the top of the fifth inning (recorded only two outs)...Threw 40 pitches over his first three innings...Threw first-pitch strikes to 13 of the 23 batters he faced...Was 3-0 with a 0.76 ERA (4ER/47.2 IP) in seven starts since suffering his last loss 4/20 at Trenton...Has allowed one run or less in six of his last seven outings while striking out 48 batters and walking 12...Is tied for the Eastern League lead with a 1.33 ERA and is tied for third in the EL with 74 strikeouts...Named the Eastern League Pitcher of the Week 5/2/11-5/8/11...Made 17 starts with Advanced-A San Jose in 2010 going 4-2 with a 3.11 ERA...Struck out 108 batters and walked 22 in 101 1/3 innings...Had season cut short after injuring his hip attempting to fi eld a ground ball 7/18/10 against Lancaster...Named a California League Mid-Season and Post Season All-Star...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

Right-hander Alex Wilson gets the nod in the series finale for the Sea Dogs...Making his 12th start of the season...Enters the season rated as the #19 prospect in the Boston Red Sox farm system according to Baseball America...Earned the win in his last outing 6/4 at Altoona...Allowed two hits over six scoreless innings...Struck out six batters and walked two...Has allowed two earned runs or less in nine of his 11 outings this season...Has gone five innings or more in 10 of his 11 starts...Has limited opponents to a .221 (46-for-208) batting average against...Has struck out 52 batters and has walked 17 in 58 1/3 innings...Began the 2010 season with Advanced-A Salem and went 2-1 with a 3.40 ERA in 11 starts...Struck out 50 batters and walked 15 in 55 2/3 innings...Limited opponents to a .212 batting average against...Named a Carolina League Mid-Season All-Star...Promoted to Portland 6/15/10...Went 4-5 with a 6.66 ERA in 16 starts with the Sea Dogs...Allowed four runs or more in seven his 16 starts and opponents hit .302 against him...Entered the 2010 season rated as the #21 prospect in the Boston Red Sox farm system according to Baseball America...Made pro debut with Short-Season A Lowell and went 0-1 with a 0.50 ERA in 13 starts...Struck out 33 batters and walked seven in 36 innings of work while limiting opponents to a .085 batting average against...Selected by the Boston Red Sox in the second round of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft...Attended Texas A&M University.

SLUMP BUSTING: After being shutout by the Sea Dogs in the series opener, the Flying Squirrels scored nine runs on 14 hits en route to a 9-3 win in game two of the series last night...The performance matched the second-most runs and hits in a game for the Flying Squirrels this season...Richmond's season-high in runs (11) and hits (22) occurred in an 11-4 win against Harrisburg 5/15...Last night was the best offensive night of the season for the club on the road...The Flying Squirrels' previous season high in runs scored on the road was seven (5/5 at New Britain) and the team's previous season high for hits in a road game was 11 (5/2 at New Britain)...The six-run eighth inning for Richmond matched the largest offensive inning of the season for the club.

BOUNCING BACK: Outfielder Justin Christian went 2-for-6 last night with a triple, two RBIs, and two runs scored...It was his first multi-hit game since 5/23 against Erie (14 games)...The 31-year-old hit .140 (7-for-50) over the 14-game stretch between multi-hit games, and he was held hitless in seven of those 14 contests...He is tied with Roger Kieschnick for the team lead with 15 multi-hit games...Second baseman Charlie Culberson launched a three-run homer to cap Richmond's six-run eighth inning last night...It was his first home run since hitting a three-run shot 4/28 against Trenton...The 22-year-old had just seven hits in his previous 52 at-bats (.135) prior to the home run and he went 13 games without driving in a run...Culberson had struck out 17 times and had walked twice over his previous 52 at-bats prior to his home run.

THE JOLLY ROGER: Outfielder Roger Kieschnick is batting .320 (33-for-103) over his last 27 games with six doubles, a triple, three home runs, 15 RBIs and 15 runs scored...The 24-year-old has 13 multi-hit games over that span which also includes a season-long eight-game hit streak...He has raised his batting average from .173 to .246 since 5/7.

THE LOW DOWN: Catcher Aaron Lowenstein has hits in a career-long six straight games after going 1-for-3 Saturday night against Reading...The 25-year-old is 7-for-17 (.412) over that span with a double, a RBI, and a run scored...Lowenstein has also thrown out 15 baserunners in 20 attempts...His .750 throwing percentage leads all Eastern League catchers with at least 20 attempts.

PITCHING IN: The Flying Squirrels pitching staff leads the Eastern League with a 2.83 ERA through 57 games, the only staff with a sub-three ERA...Richmond's 2.84 staff ERA is the third-lowest in all of MiLB, trailing the Low-A Burlington Bees (2.70) and Advanced-A Clearwater Threshers (2.72)...The pitching staff has logged a league-high 533 1/3 innings of work.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN: The Flying Squirrels are in a stretch where they will play 13 of 16 games on the road...The team is 5-7 through the first 12 games of that stretch including a 3-6 mark on the road...Overall, the club is 9-19 on the road, and is batting .197 (183-for-930) and averaging 2.96 runs per game (83R/28G) in 28 road contests...Richmond recently completed a stretch of playing 10 out of 13 games at home, going 8-5 over those 13 contests...The Flying Squirrels are 18-11 at home and are batting .253 (262-for-1,035) in 30 games at The Diamond while averaging 4.17 runs per game at home (125R/30G).

Check out the Richmond Flying Squirrels Statistics



Eastern League Stories from June 9, 2011


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