ALTOONA, PA - The Erie SeaWolves (35-17, 71-49) surrendered four consecutive baserunners with two outs in the ninth inning as the Altoona Curve (20-31, 51-69) erased a one-run deficit and took the series opener in a 7-6 thriller on an Easton Carmichael walk-off single.
Erie got the bats going quickly with two runs in the first inning as Thayron Liranzo and EJ Exposito flared RBI singles over the Curve infield against Altoona starter Matt Ager to take an early lead.
Carlos Peña started for the SeaWolves after dominating in his first two starts against the Curve in 2026, but ran into some trouble in the early innings. Murf Gray smashed a solo home run to center field in the first inning to cut into the Erie lead and the Curve kept attacking in the second inning. Altoona tied the game on an error from Peña on a bunt attempt and jumped in front with a sacrifice fly. Keiner Delgado's RBI single capped the inning and sent Altoona to the third with a 4-2 lead.
Zyhir Hope snatched some of the momentum back to the Erie side with a leadoff home run in the third inning to straightaway center field. The blast was Hope's third with the SeaWolves and 26th on the season. Erie picked up two more hits in the inning, but stranded the tying run at third base.
Altoona took advantage of the missed opportunity by restoring its two-run lead in the fifth inning with back-to-back doubles to start the inning against Peña. The left-hander retired the next two hitters, but left the game after allowing a two-out walk. Marco Jimenez entered the game and got out of the jam on just one pitch as Altoona attempted a double steal and Titus Dumitru was thrown out the plate to end the inning.
Erie bounced back in the sixth as Roberto Campos kept the inning alive with a two-out single and Seth Stephenson hit his second home run of the season to deep left field to tie the game at five.
The bullpens traded zeros through the seventh and eighth innings. Moises Rodriguez was lights out in his first multi-inning appearance since returning from the injured list. Mike Walsh shut things down for the Curve to keep the game tied heading to the ninth.
Woody Hadeen led off the inning with a single and Zyhir Hope matched him to put runners on the corners with no one out. Liranzo picked up a sacrifice fly to give the SeaWolves their first lead since the second inning and a chance to close out the series opener.
Zane Barnhart entered looking for his sixth save of the season and quickly retired the first two hitters he faced, but things took a rapid turn. Back-to-back two-out walks increased the pressure and set the stage for Callan Moss' bloop single to center that tied the game. Carmichael followed with a groundball into left field to bring across the winning run and give Altoona a series-opening win.
Lucas Elissalt starts for Erie on Wednesday with a chance to even the series against Nick Dombkowski for Altoona. First pitch is set for 6:00 PM.
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.