ALTOONA — The Altoona Curve clinched their first postseason berth since 2018 with a 4-2 win over the Richmond Flying Squirrels on Sunday afternoon in front of 5,013 fans at Peoples Natural Gas Field in Altoona. The Curve will host the first-half champion Erie Seawolves at PNG Field on Tuesday, Sept. 16 at 6 p.m.

Altoona built a 3-0 lead through the first four innings, using RBIs from P.J. Hilson and Mitch Jebb in the fourth. Curve starter Blake Townsend tossed four scoreless innings and struck out a pair before handing the ball off to Derek Diamond, who fired a pair of scoreless innings and earned the win.

Richmond rallied for two runs in the seventh and brought the tying run into scoring position in each the seventh and eighth innings before Altoona put the game away. Termarr Johnson scored from third on a wild pitch in the eighth inning to give the Curve a 4-2 lead.

Mike Walsh wrapped up the win with two scoreless frames, earning his first save with the Curve. Konnor Griffin picked up two hits and drew a walk in the victory, and Duce Gourson extended his on-base streak to 15 consecutive games with a single and a walk in the win.

Altoona wraps up the regular season with a six-game set at Erie, beginning on Tuesday at 6:05 p.m. RHP Po-Yu Chen is slated to start for Altoona.