Erie scored in the first inning for the fourth game in the series, tagging starter Eli Lingos for four runs and knocking him out of the game after just one out. Jacob Robson continued his hot start to the season by doubling in Riley Greene for the first run, Drew Ward and Kerry Carpenter each singled in runs of their own, and John Valente capped the frame with a run driven in on a grounder.
Carpenter reignited the offense after Akron had taken the lead. The left fielder knocked his second home run of the year to tie the game at five. He put Erie ahead for good in the fifth inning with another RBI single, this time against Dakody Clemmer (0-1). John Valente added some insurance for Erie in the frame with an RBI single of his own. It was a career day for Carpenter at the plate as he went 4-for-5, his first four-hit game in Minor League Baseball and the first for Erie this season.
Paul Richan started the afternoon for Erie, but ran into trouble after tossing a scoreless first inning. Akron plated a run in the second inning after a leadoff triple, and pushed ahead in the third inning behind four runs. The Akron rally was highlighted by Oscar Gonzalez’s three-run home run to give Akron the 5-4 lead and chase Richan.
Brad Bass took over for Erie and halted the Akron momentum. Bass (1-0) tallied 3.2 scoreless innings in relief for Erie, striking out a season-high five batters in the process. Max Green followed with two scoreless innings, but Marcos Gonzalez tagged Gerson Moreno with a solo home run in the ninth inning to trim the lead to just one run. With the go-ahead run at the plate, Moreno pulled back to strike out Alex Call and earn his second save of the year.