Holt, K-Tribe take 2-1 series lead

Tyler Holt felt comfortable at the plate on Friday night. And it showed.

Holt singled, doubled, tripled, drove in four runs and scored once as the Kinston Indians blanked the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, 7-0, to take a 2-1 lead in their best-of-5 Carolina League semifinal series.

Hitting leadoff, the 22-year-old center fielder singled and scored on Adam Abraham's three-run homer in the first. He delivered a two-run double in the second and added a two-run triple in the sixth.

"We got some timely hitting and our pitching was great," said Holt, a 2010 10th-round pick who's 7-for-13 in the series. "No runs and four hits against this team is outstanding. When you get good pitching and timely hitting, you're going to win some ballgames."

Michael Goodnight (1-0) tossed five scoreless innings to earn the win, allowing four hits and two walks while striking out six. Three relievers -- Chris Jones, Trey Haley and Preston Guilmet-- combined for four hitless frames.

Holt said Goodnight was "confident and didn't go below 90-91 [mph]. [Catcher] Roberto [Perez] called a good game and the bullpen picked him up."

Myrtle Beach's Miguel De Los Santos struck out 10, but allowed five earned runs in five innings of work to take the loss.

According to Holt, the Indians are staying loose and not putting too much pressure on themselves.

"We have the mind-set, 'We're here, we might as well have some fun.' We're relaxed. We're just trying to put runs on the board and play good defense," he said. "We're excited, but we can't take [the Pelicans] lightly. They have a great offense and a great pitching staff.

"We trust each other. Anybody in the lineup or pitching staff can get the job done. We have each other's back. If we lose, we lose, but we're going to work our butts off and try to get the 'W.' We can almost taste the Championship Series."

Game 4 is Saturday in Kinston.

In other Carolina League playoff action:
Nationals 8, Keys 0

Francisco Soriano homered and drove in four runs and Eury Perez scored four times as Potomac tied the series, 1-1. Sammy Solis struck out seven over 4 2/3 innings and combined with three relievers on an eight-hitter.