Another Eighth Inning Rally Makes it Two-Straight Wins for the Pelicans

For the second game in a row, Myrtle Beach scored three runs in the eighth inning to take the lead

The Pelicans won their second-straight home game on Thursday night 4-3 over the Augusta GreenJackets. The victory came in front of over 2300 fans on the first Thirsty Thursday of the year presented by Axelrod & Associates, Duplin Winery, and Better Brands.

Myrtle Beach got back to .500 with a 4-4 record, while Augusta slipped to 3-5 with their third loss in a row.

In another dominating pitching performance, the Pelicans used five different pitchers to strike out 13 GreenJackets, and allowed just four hits. The win went to Carlos Ocampo (1-0), while Bailey Reid picked up his second save of the season after pitching the final two outs.

Yohendrick Pinango (2-4, 2B, RBI) tallied his second multi-hit game of the season with a double and the go-ahead RBI single in the eighth inning that gave the Birds the lead. Edmond Americaan (1-4, HR) blasted his second home run of the season, while Ed Howard (0-2, RBI) and Matt Mervis (0-3, RBI) hit the other two runs in.

For the visitors, Kenny Wells (0-1) picked up the loss after allowing three runs in just two-thirds of an inning. Darius Vines started the game and went five innings of scoreless baseball while allowing just two hits and six strikeouts.

Willie Carter (1-4, RBI) continued his six-game hitting streak with an RBI single, with Landon Stephens (0-3, RBI) and Javier Valdes (1-3, RBI) providing the other two runs.

The game started out with the two starters dominating early, with Sam Thoresen going three and a third innings for Myrtle Beach, striking out six and allowing two hits.

The first run of the game didn't come until the Pelicans' half of the sixth inning, with Americaan pulling a ball over the right-field fence for his second home run of the season to put the Birds on top 1-0.

After stranding the tying run at third base in their half of the seventh, Augusta started out the eighth with Cade Bunnell working a walk off Pelicans reliever Jose Albertos. Ocampo came in and walked Paolini, then hit Vaughn Grissom with a pitch to load the bases. Stephens worked a walk in the next at-bat to bring home the first run of the game for the GreenJackets. Carter hit a bloop single to center off Ocampo to drive home another run and put Augusta in front 2-1. Valdes capped off the inning with a sacrifice fly to right-field and the GreenJackets had a 3-1 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth.

For the second game in a row, the Pelicans decided the game in their half of the eighth. Wells came on to pitch and immediately walked Ethan Hearn and hit Pablo Aliendo to put the first two runners aboard. Yeison Santana walked two batters later to load the bases with one out. Wells continued to struggle with control and hit Howard on the first pitch of the at-bat to bring a run home. Matt Mervis came up and tallied his fourth RBI in two games with a sacrifice fly to center-field to tie the game up 3-3. After Wells was taken out for Justin Yeager, Yohendrick Pinango had the deciding hit with an opposite-field single to left field that scored Santana to give the Pelicans the lead 4-3.

Reid entered the game with one out in the ninth and retired the two batters he faced with the tying run left at second base.

Myrtle Beach and Augusta will meet for the third game of the series tomorrow with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m.