RICHMOND, Va. – The Richmond Flying Squirrels surrendered two runs in the ninth and lost to the Harrisburg Senators, 7-6, on Saturday night at CarMax Park.
The Flying Squirrels (40-21) had their three-game win streak against the Senators (32-30) snapped.
Harrisburg opened a 2-0 lead in the second. After a single and a walk to open the inning, Caleb Lomavita hit an RBI double and Leandro Pineda singled home a run before Marte got a strikeout and a double play to work out of the inning.
In the bottom of the third, Dayson Croes led off with a double and scored on a double by Bo Davidson to close the score to 2-1.
Maxwell Romero Jr. hit a solo homer to lead off the top of the fourth inning, opening a 3-1 Senators lead.
Jack Payton hit a solo homer against Harrisburg starter Alex Clemmey in the bottom of the fourth inning to close the score to 3-2.
The Senators opened a 4-2 lead in the top of the fifth with a two-out, RBI double by Sam Petersen. The Flying Squirrels answered with a run-scoring groundout by Charlie Szykowny in the bottom of the fifth to close back within a run.
In the bottom of the sixth, Payton led off with a single and later scored on a double by Zane Zielinkski to even the score, 4-4.
Harrisburg moved back ahead, 5-4, in the top of the seventh on an RBI double by Sam Brown.
The Flying Squirrels took their first lead in the bottom of the seventh. Payton evened the score with an RBI single before Zielinski gave Richmond a 6-5 lead with an RBI single.
In the bottom of the eighth, Parks Harber singled and Davidson walked to put two runners on with no outs, but Robert Cranz (Win, 3-0) worked out of the jam with a pop out and two strikeouts.
The Senators took a 7-6 lead in the top of the ninth inning. Romero tied the score with a single and Pineda worked a bases-loaded walk from Ben Peterson (Loss, 1-1) to move Harrisburg ahead.
Jean Carlos Sio walked and moved around to third in the bottom of the ninth, but Holden Powell (Save, 3) recorded the final three outs to end the game.
The Flying Squirrels went 4-for-22 with runners in scoring position and stranded 13 runners on base.
The series concludes on Sunday evening. Left-hander Cesar Perdomo (2-1, 3.35) will start for Richmond. First pitch is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. at CarMax Park.
Select Flying Squirrels players will be signing autographs at The Backstop before Sunday’s game. After the game, fans can stick around and play catch on the field. Tickets are available online at SquirrelsBaseball.com/Tickets, by phone at 804-359-FUNN (3866) or in person at the CarMax Park ticket office.