ERIE, PA - Stephen Hrustich ingratiated himself with Erie SeaWolves' (23-10, 59-42) fans with a three-run home run over the left field wall as part of a five-run fourth inning in Erie's series finale 6-4 victory over the Akron RubberDucks (12-21, 47-54) on Sunday afternoon at UPMC Park.
It was Akron that struck first on offense. Erie starter Max Alba delivered two shutout innings to begin the game, but Alex Mooney pulled a solo home run down the left field line with one out in the third to give Akron a 1-0 lead.
Alba was pulled from the game after 3.2 innings. The righty allowed just the one run on two hits along with one walk while racking up four strikeouts.
The SeaWolves broke the game open at the plate in the fourth. Andrew Jenkins led off with a double, while EJ Exposito and Andrew Sojka smacked singles to put pressure on RubberDucks starter Sean Matson. After Sojka's base hit scored the first run, Hrustich crushed a three-run home run to left field to give the SeaWolves a 4-1 lead. Viandel Pena made it back-to-back home runs when he powered out his second SeaWolves' long ball to right field to extend the lead to 5-1.
With Alba out of the game, Akron got to Johan Simon in the fifth. Ryan Cesarini brought in a run with an RBI groundout, and the second run crossed the plate on an RBI-single from Jaison Chourio.
The bullpen found its rhythm for the SeaWolves with Yoniel Curet and Tyler Owens combining for three scoreless innings to settle things down.
Sojka got involved again offensively in the seventh when he pushed in Jenkins on a sacrifice fly hit to center field to add to the lead and send Erie to the ninth with a three-run cushion.
Trevin Michael was called upon in the ninth for his third save opportunity of the week. Christian Knapczyk scored Aaron Walton on a sacrifice fly to shorten the deficit to 6-4 after Walton smacked a leadoff double, but Michael otherwise locked down the final frame to earn the SeaWolves a 6-4 victory and earn his seventh save of the season.
Erie is back in action on Tuesday after an off day tomorrow. The Altoona Curve come to town for the first time in 2026. First pitch for game one is at 6:05 PM on Tuesday night with Kenny Serwa set to start for the SeaWolves.
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.