Wright, Aeros quiet the Thunder, 2-1

In their second home appearance, the Akron Aeros defeated the Trenton Thunder 2-1 at Canal Park on Friday night.

“Our pitching did a nice job and our defense played well too. That was enough to get the job done and get the win,” said Aeros Manager Chris Tremie.

Right-handed pitcher Steven Wright, who came into the game with a 1.59 ERA, had a wild start on the mound walking the first and only Trenton run across the plate with two outs in the first inning.  He struggled in the first inning walking three of the first five batters he faced, but as the third inning rolled around the righty got into a groove taking down batter after batter.

“He did well," said Tremie about Wright's performance.  "He had the three walks in the first inning and walked in a run, but after that he settled in and threw strikes with his knuckle ball and fastball and gave us a good five and two thirds innings.”

Akron got things going at the plate in the bottom of the third inning. Center fielder Tim Fedroff hit a deep shot to left center that tipped off of outfielder Melky Mesa’s glove. Fedroff wound up with a double, and after a walk to shortstop Juan Diaz, left fielder Jared Goedert hit a single to left field but Fedroff was thrown out at home.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Thunder sent in relief pitcher Preston Claiborne and Akron answer with four consecutive hits. Fedroff started the Aeros off with his second double of the night to center field and Diaz followed with a smash to deep center for a double that drove in Fedroff and tied the score at 1-1. Jared Goedert singled to left field to put runners on first and third with one out, and designated hitter Nick Weglarz drilled a ball to center field to score Diaz and put Akron up for good at 2-1.

The Aeros brought in Toru Murata for his second appearance of the season in the bottom of the sixth inning. He went one and a third innings and allowed two hits, but kept the Thunder off the board.  In the eighth inning right hander Cody Allen made his Aeros' debut and closed out the win by setting down all six batters he faced and racked up two strikeouts.

On Saturday the Aeros will start right-handed pitcher Giovanni Soto in his second appearance of the season.

“Soto really commanded the fastball well in his first appearance," said Tremie.  "Tomorrow, we’re just expecting him to keep commanding the fastball and pitch ahead in the count. “

The third match of the series kicks off Saturday at Canal Park at 1:05 p.m.

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.