Hilson Brings Home Winning Run in 8-7 Win
CURVE, Pa. – Duce Gourson and Omar Alfonzo homered in an 8-7 win for Altoona over Richmond on Wednesday night at PNG Field. Altoona’s lead in the Southwest Division has reached 4.0 games with ten games remaining in the Second Half. In a game that featured three separate ties and
CURVE, Pa. – Duce Gourson and Omar Alfonzo homered in an 8-7 win for Altoona over Richmond on Wednesday night at PNG Field. Altoona’s lead in the Southwest Division has reached 4.0 games with ten games remaining in the Second Half.
In a game that featured three separate ties and three lead changes, P.J. Hilson drove in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth when the Curve loaded the bases with one out on a base hit and a pair of walks.
Duce Gourson slammed his fourth homer with the Curve to tie the game at three in the third inning. Gourson added a double in the fifth inning for his 12th multi-hit game in an Altoona uniform, he’s picked up a hit in 12 straight games.
After Richmond scored three times in the top of the fourth and added single runs in the fifth and sixth, the Curve offense went back to work in the sixth. Nick Cimillo started the rally with a double and after a base hit from Termarr Johnson, Omar Alfonzo slammed a 3-2 offering over the wall in left-center field to take a 7-6 lead.
Richmond tied the game on a sacrifice fly from pinch-hitter Carter Howell in the eighth inning. However, Altoona rallied again in the bottom of the eighth, Johnson singled to start the inning and then Alfonzo and Javier Rivas drew walks to load the bases. Taking his first at-bat of the night, P.J. Hilson lifted fly ball to shallow center and Johnson scampered home with the go-ahead run.
Tyler Samaniego earned the win with 1.2 innings of scoreless relief. Samaniego allowed an inherited run to score and stranded the go-ahead run in the ninth inning.
Altoona continues their six-game series with Richmond at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday night. RHP Emmanuel Chapman takes the ball for the Curve with RHP Trystan Vrieling slated to start for the Flying Squirrels.
For tickets and more information on the 2025 Altoona Curve Season, presented by Stuckey Automotive, 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.