Hiura's walk-off sinks Myrtle Beach in series opener at Carolina

ZEBULON, N.C. (May 25, 2018) - For the second time this season, the Carolina Mudcats' Keston Hiura dropped the Myrtle Beach Pelicans with a walk-off base hit. On Friday night, it was Hiura's three-run home run in the bottom of the 10th that lifted the Muddies to a 4-1 win from Five County Stadium.
With the game tied a 1-1 in the bottom of the 10th inning, the Mudcats (25-23) had two on with two outs when Hiura blasted a 1-0 pitch from Jordan Minch (2-1) out of the ballpark to left-center field to win the game.

Carolina struck first in the bottom of the second inning when Ryan Aguilar was caught in a run down between second and third, allowing Ronnie Gideon to score. 
The Pelicans (20-28) came back to tie the game in the eighth inning when Luis Ayala singled home Jhonny Pereda , who reached base four times. The Pelicans stranded the bases loaded in that inning, which marked three of 12 men left on base on Friday night. 
Bailey Clark was strong in his first start for the Pelicans. The righty allowed one run over four innings while striking out three and walking two in the no-decision. Erick Leal , who made his 2018 Pelicans debut after pitching for the Birds in 2016, and Casey Bloomquist combined for for four shutout innings out of the bullpen. 
Luke Barker (3-0) earned the win after tossing a scoreless top of the 10th. 
The Birds and the Muddies meet Saturday for game two of a four-game set with a 5 p.m. contest. RHP Keegan Thompson  (1-3, 4.14 ERA) pitches against Carolina RHP Trey Supak (2-1, 1.76 ERA). Coverage begins at 4:45 p.m. on MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/Broadcast, the MiLB First Pitch app and TuneIn.
The 2018 season is the 20th season for the Pelicans franchise and fourth 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].