Akron loses back and forth tussle with Erie

ERIE - The Akron Aeros lost a tough back-and-forth battle, 8-6, to the Erie Seawolves Thursday on the road at Jerry Uht Park.

Both the Aeros and the Seawolves put eleven hits on the board, but a clutch single by Erie designated hitter Rawley Bishop in the bottom of the eighth inning would seal the deal for the Seawolves.

The Aeros found themselves down to a quick 3-0 deficit in the third inning. They scored their first two runs of the night in the bottom of the fifth.  Right fielder Thomas Neal, who has had tremendous success at the plate as of late, drove in the first run with a line drive single up the middle to score Aeros second baseman Matt Lawson.  Left fielder Nick Weglarz also singled up the middle to get Akron newcomer Tyler Holt, in his Double-A debut, across the plate to cut the lead to 3-2.

Akron’s two runs went uncontested and third baseman Adam Abraham came to the plate in the bottom of the sixth to hit his seventh home run of the season to take a 4-3 lead.

The Seawolves scored three runs in the sixth inning to take the lead again at 6-4, but first baseman Chun Chen had the answer as he came to the plate in the seventh. Chen kept the hits going with his third home run for the season on a fly ball to right field that also scored Holt.

In the back-and-forth fashion of the outing, the Seawolves came back to put two more runs on the board in the bottom of the eighth to clinch the 8-6 win.

The Aeros and Seawolves will battle it out in game three of the series Friday at 7:05 p.m. Akron left-hander Giovanni Soto will start against Erie left-handed pitcher Ramon Garcia.

Christian Turner is a senior public relations major at the University of Akron where she covers baseball, tennis and military veterans for the student newspaper, The Buchtelite.She can be contacted at christianturner86@gmail.com.