Mudcats take series opener behind eight innings from Noah Zavolas

Zebulon, N.C. (May 10, 2019) -  The Myrtle Beach Pelicans could not overcome an early deficit, falling to the Carolina Mudcats 5-1 on Friday night from Five County Stadium. 

In the first inning, the Mudcats' (20-14) Joantgel Segovia picked on the third pitch he saw from Myrtle Beach (12-23) starter Alex Lange (1-5) and launched a leadoff homer to begin the scoring.
Myrtle Beach then fought back to even up the game at one apiece in the top of the third inning when Carlos Sepulveda singled home Jhonny Bethencourt . 
The Muddies came right back in the bottom half of the frame and plated a pair of runs to take a 3-1 lead. Sogovia led the inning off with a single and later scored on a Ryan Aguilar double and an error. Aguilar came around to score in the inning on an RBI groundout from Payton Henry.
Carolina was able to add some insurance to their lead in the seventh when they plated two runs on a two-out double from Rob Henry that made it 5-1 Mudcats. 
Noah Zavolas put together a career outing for the Mudcats. The righty tossed eight innings and allowed just one run on five hits while striking out six to earn his second win of the year. 
The Birds and Muddies will be back in action in game two of the three-game series on Saturday night at 5 p.m. Coverage starts at 4:45 p.m. on MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/Broadcast and the MiLB First Pitch and TuneIn Apps.
LHP Luis Lugo (1-1, 3.38) will take the rubber for the Birds, while RHP Braden Webb (0-0, 0.00) will climb the hill for the Mudcats. 
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].