Birds fall in finale in Lynchburg

LYNCHBURG, Va. (July 6, 2019)- The Myrtle Beach Pelicans fell behind early and could not recover as they dropped the finale game of the three-game set to the Lynchburg Hillcats 5-3 on Saturday night from City Stadium. 

For the third time in the series, the Pelicans (9-8, 30-54) jumped on the scoreboard first. After Tyler Payne doubled to lead off the second inning, he later scrored in the inning on an RBI groundout by Kevonte Mitchell that put the Birds up 1-0. 
Lynchburg (11-7, 43-41) responded in the bottom of the third inning as they tied the game on an RBI single by Wilbis Santiago that evened the score at 1-1.
The Hillcats took a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning after Javier Assad (L, 2-6) collected two outs in the inning, but surrendered a three-run homer to Mike Rivera that made it a three-run advantage for Lynchburg. 
The Pelicans started to climb back in the fifth inning when they pushed Tyler Durna in from second on an RBI single from Payne that cut the gap to 4-2. 
In the bottom of the fifth, the Hillcats got the run back on a sacrifice fly from Will Benson that extended the Lynchburg lead to 5-2.
Myrtle Beach put another run on the board in the top of the sixth inning when Delvin Zinn scored Mitchell on a sacrifice fly that brought the Birds to within two runs at 5-3. 
After the Pelicans put their first two men aboard in the eighth inning, Yapson Gomez entered the game and quieted the rally to lock up the save for the Hillcats and give Lynchburg a 5-3 win in the series finale.
The Pelicans will return home on Sunday night as they will open up a nine-game homestand against the Down East Wood Ducks at 6:05 on Sunday night. The Pelicans will send RHP Paul Richan to the hill (8-3, 4.15) against RHP Alex Eubanks (7-2, 2.40) for the Woodies. 
Coverage starts at 5:50 p.m. on MiLB.tv, MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/Broadcast and the MiLB First Pitch and TuneIn Apps. Sunday will also be Family Sunday, courtesy of Anderson Brothers Bank and WPDE.
The 2019 season is the 21st season for the Pelicans franchise and fifth as the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. For tickets visit MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/tickets, call (843) 918-6000, or visit the Pelicans Box Office.
ABOUT THE PELICANS: The Myrtle Beach Pelicans are the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Chicago Cubs and play their home games at TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Since being acquired by a group led by Chuck Greenberg during the 2006 season, the Pelicans have repeatedly set team attendance records and become known as one of Minor League Baseball's most innovative and creative franchises. The team and its employees have been dedicated to making a difference in the Myrtle Beach community, specifically giving back over $2 million in donations, fundraising proceeds, in-kind services and community service since launching the Pelicans Play It Forward Community Initiative in 2013. TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark has ranked in the top eight in all of Minor League Baseball by Stadium Journey in six of the last seven seasons. The same publication also placed the Pelicans in the Top 100 Stadium Experiences and the best in the Carolina League for six of the past seven seasons. In June 2017, the Pelicans won the 2017 TripAdvisor.com Certificate of Excellence award. On the field, the team has won four Mills Cup Championships, including claims to back-to-back titles in 1999 and 2000, and again in 2015 and 2016. The Pelicans have made 11 postseason appearances behind 13 half-season Southern Division championships, including the first half of the 2015 season, second half of 2016 and first half of 2017. For more information on the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, please contact the Pelicans at (843) 918-6000 or email [email protected].