AKRON, OH. – Lefty Connor Wietgrefe turned in his third straight scoreless outing and Jack Brannigan drove in three to lead Altoona to a 3-2 win over the Akron RubberDucks on Friday night.
The Curve struck first in the third inning, taking advantage of three straight walks with two outs by Akron starter Justin Campbell. Jack Brannigan singled home a pair with a solid base hit to left to take a 2-0 advantage.
It was all the support that Wietgrefe would need to turn in another brilliant outing. Wietgrefe induced double play balls to finish the first and third inning and struck out the side around a 2-out single in the fourth. The 24-year-old lefty from Prior Lake, MN finished seven innings for the first time this season and allowed just four total baserunners (three hits and one walk). His eight strikeouts matched his career-high for the second straight outing and he’s thrown 18.0 consecutive scoreless innings stretching back to June 7 at New Hampshire.
Wietgrefe’s scoreless streak is the longest by a Curve pitcher since Hunter Barco set the franchise record with 25.2 scoreless frames to begin the 2025 season. In the month of June, he’s allowed just one run on 10 hits, five walks and struck out 30 batters across 23.0 innings.
After Akron grabbed a run against Josh Loeschorn in the eighth inning, Brannigan slammed an opposite-field solo homer to lead off the ninth inning. Brannigan’s sixth homer of the season proved to be an important run for the Curve as Akron quickly plated a run in the bottom of the ninth on a double from Jose Devers and a single from Jaison Chourio to make it 3-2. Loeschorn, however, would bear down and strand runners at first and third with back-to-back strikeouts to seal the win and his second save of the season.
Altoona continues their six-game series at Akron on Saturday night. Altoona’s starter is to be announced, while the RubberDucks will start LHP Josh Hartle.
For tickets and more information on the Altoona Curve, visit AltoonaCurve.com, call 877.99.CURVE or stop by the PNG Field box office. Additionally, the Stockyard Team Store is open Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., during every home game and online 24/7/365.