MudCats Fend Off Pelicans 8-6 in Series Opener

Zebulon, N.C. (April 29, 2025) – The Myrtle Beach Pelicans were defeated by the Carolina MudCats 8-6 on Tuesday evening at Five County Stadium.

Box Score

The Pelicans (8-14) struck in the top of the first inning when Angel Cepeda launched a two-run homer to right field, scoring Christian Olivo to take a 2-0 lead.

The MudCats answered in the bottom half, tying the game at 2-2 with Josh Adamczewski’s RBI double and Marco Dinges’ RBI single.

Carolina took a 3-2 lead in the second inning when Reece Walling scored on a Jesús Made groundout.

The MudCats broke the game open in the fourth. Made’s single drove in Walling, and Tyler Rodriguez scored on an error. Adamczewski reached on the error before Dinges followed with a two-run triple to center, pushing the lead to 7-2.

Hayden Frank (0-2) struggled, taking the loss after allowing six earned runs on eight hits over 4.0 innings. The lefty walked four and struck out five.

Yoendris Gonzalez provided a scoreless fifth inning, facing four batters and striking out two while walking one.

The Pelicans rallied in the sixth where Owen Ayers singled to drive in Cameron Sisneros, Alexey Lumpuy singled to score Leonel Espinoza, and Olivo’s single plated Ayers, cutting the deficit to 7-5.

Carolina responded in the bottom of the sixth with Made’s solo homer to left-center, making it 8-5.

Cole Reynolds and Luis Martinez-Gomez pitched the final 3.0 innings, combining to allow one run on three hits and a walk while fanning six.

In the ninth, Sisneros singled to drive in Cepeda, narrowing the gap to 8-6, but the Pelicans could not complete the rally as they stranded a pair of runners on the basepaths.

Offensively, the Pelicans tallied nine hits, including a homer and a double, but went 4-for-13 with runners in scoring position and left nine runners on base. Cepeda, who drove in a team-high two runs with his first-inning homer, finished 1-for-4 with two runs scored. Sisneros was the lone batter to collect multiple hits for the Birds.

The Pelicans begin a six-game road trip against the Carolina MudCats (Milwaukee Brewers affiliate) at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, April 30th. RHP Will Frisch (0-2, 10.57) is expected to start for Myrtle Beach against RHP Bryce Meccage (0-0, 2.92) for Carolina.