ERIE, PA - Josue Briceño's power has already made a noticeable impact in the Erie SeaWolves (20-9, 56-41) lineup. His first homer at UPMC Park in 2026 was the difference in a 5-4 victory over the Akron RubberDucks (11-18, 46-51) on Wednesday night.
Akron struck first in the opening inning when Jaison Chourio doubled, advanced to third on a groundout and quickly scored on an RBI single from Nolan Schubart to make it 1-0.
Erie responded with a run of its own in the bottom of the first as Seth Stephenson singled to lead off the inning and stole his 48th base of the season to move into scoring position. Josue Briceño came through with a line-drive single to plate Stephenson and even the score at one.
The pitching from both clubs quickly settled in through the sixth inning. For Akron, Josh Hartle hurled five more innings of hitless baseball. The lefty finished his night with just one run allowed and five strikeouts.
Knuckleballer Kenny Serwa held his own in the duel. Serwa navigated through 5.2 of five-hit, one-run baseball. The right-hander also finished his night with five punch outs.
Akron's offense roared back to life in the seventh. Alex Mooney clubbed a leadoff home run against Tanner Kohlhepp, who entered in relief to escape the jam in the sixth. Maick Collado followed up the homer with a line drive single and scored from first on a double from Nick Mitchell to give Akron a 3-1 lead.
Erie had an immediate response against the Akron bullpen. The SeaWolves brought across three runs with a leadoff walk to Thayron Liranzo, a single from Justice Bigbie and a run-scoring double from EJ Exposito, breaking Erie's drought and pulling the Howlers within a run. Patrick Lee pushed across Bigbie with another single, and yet another base hit from Viandel Pena gave Erie a 4-3 lead, its first of the night.
Despite the SeaWolves' flurry, the RubberDucks tied the game again in the eighth. Dean Curley's leadoff single paid off on an RBI-triple from Alex Mooney to tie the game at four.
Josue Briceño finished the night with the last laugh on offense. The Tigers' #3 prospect launched his third home run to vault Erie to a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the eighth.
Trevin Michael earned his team-leading fifth save of the season after retiring the side in order in the ninth inning.
Marco Jimenez earned his first win in his first outing with the SeaWolves in 2026. Jay Driver was tagged with the loss for Akron.
Erie is back in action tomorrow night at 6:05 PM. Hayden Minton takes to the mound for the SeaWolves. The right-hander has allowed only two runs in his last four starts. Lefty Rafe Schlesinger gets the start for Akron.
Single-game tickets, suites, picnics, The Club by Synchrony events, and Bud Light Party Deck groups are now available by visiting SeaWolves.com, calling 814-456-1300, or visiting the UPMC Park Box Office in person.