ALTOONA, Pa. (Interstat) — Dean Curley homered and drove in two runs, Luke Hill singled home two more and the Akron RubberDucks scored four times in the eighth inning to beat the Altoona Curve 11-7 on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 13, 2026, at Peoples Natural Gas Field. The Double-A Eastern League game took 2 hours, 46 minutes and drew 5,028. Akron improved to 68-68. Altoona fell to 60-77.

Magnus Ellerts earned the win in relief for Akron and improved to 2-0. Tyler Owens took the loss for Altoona and fell to 6-3. Braylon Doughty started for the RubberDucks and allowed five earned runs on six hits over 5.1 innings, striking out nine.

Altoona struck first in the bottom of the first. Keiner Delgado homered to left-center field. Murf Gray followed with a sharp double to center, and he later scored when Easton Carmichael grounded out to second. That gave the Curve a 2-0 lead. Braylon Doughty struck out three batters in the inning, but Altoona took advantage of a wild pitch and a productive out.

Akron answered in the second. Aaron Walton singled sharply to left, and Curley hit a two-run homer to center field to tie the game. The RubberDucks moved ahead in the third when Jace LaViolette homered to left-center. Ryan Cesarini added a sacrifice fly in the fourth that scored Curley, and Akron pushed another run across later in the inning. Nolan Schubart homered to right in the fifth, extending Akron’s lead to 6-2.

Altoona rallied in the sixth. Murf Gray singled and Callan Moss singled before Carmichael doubled sharply to left, scoring both runners. Will Taylor then singled on a ground ball to right, bringing home Carmichael and trimming Akron’s lead to 6-5. The Curve tied the game in the seventh, setting up the decisive eighth.

Akron reclaimed control in the eighth. Walton struck out swinging but reached first on a throwing error by catcher Easton Carmichael. Francisca singled to center, moving Walton to third. Curley walked to load the bases. Hill then singled on a ground ball to center, scoring Walton and Francisca. Bennett Thompson followed with a sacrifice fly to center that scored Curley, and a throwing error by center fielder Will Taylor occurred on the play. Chourio added a sacrifice fly to center that scored Hill. The four-run inning gave Akron a 10-6 lead.

Francisca homered to right-center in the ninth for an insurance run. Altoona did not go quietly in the bottom half. Will Taylor singled, Javier Rivas singled and Matt King singled to left, scoring Taylor. But Keiner Delgado grounded into a double play from second baseman Luke Hill to shortstop Welbyn Francisca to first baseman Nolan Schubart. Titus Dumitru struck out swinging to end the game. Akron finished with 12 hits and three sacrifice flies, while Altoona had 11 hits.

Curley finished 2 for 3 with a home run and two RBIs. Francisca was 2 for 5 with a home run and an RBI. Hill went 2 for 4 with two RBIs. Schubart was 1 for 4 with a home run and an RBI. LaViolette also homered for Akron. Carmichael went 1 for 4 with three RBIs for Altoona. Delgado homered for the Curve.

Altoona relievers Sean Sullivan and Jake Shirk each worked a scoreless inning. Sullivan struck out two, and Shirk struck out one. Akron’s Ellerts pitched two innings, allowing one earned run on one hit with two strikeouts. Jay Driver recorded two outs, allowing one hit and no runs. Akron pitchers combined for 24 strikes, 74 balls and 24 balls in play. Altoona pitchers combined for 18 strikes, 38 balls and 18 balls in play.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected Altoona to win 7-4. Interstat’s ELO system gave Akron a 54.7 percent chance to win before the game.