Erceg totals four RBIs as Mudcats win third straight

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - Lucas Erceg went 3-for-5 with four RBIs, Monte Harrison had a double and scored three times and Zack Brown struck out six over six innings as the Mudcats won their third straight game while defeating the Pelicans 10-5 on Friday night in Myrtle Beach.

The series opening road victory in Myrtle Beach (70-61, 27-34) ran Carolina's current winning streak to three straight games. It also pulled the Mudcats (65-64, 29-32) to within 5.5 games of first place Buies Creek in the second half standings, with only nine games left to play. 
Brown (3-0, 1.89) earned the victory after striking out six and allowing just one run on four hits over six innings. It was his third straight victory with Carolina since arriving from Low-A Wisconsin and his third straight quality start. 
Harrison started the scoring and put the Mudcats up 1-0 in the third with a two-out RBI double before scoring moments later on a RBI single from Erceg. Harrison also scored in the fifth and seventh innings and finished the game going 1-for-4 with three runs and two RBIs.
Erceg led the way for Carolina in the RBI column after going 3-for-5 with a run scoring single in the second, a two run double in the fifth and another RBI single in the seventh inning. Erceg had four RBIs in the series opening victory; bringing his season total to a league leading 76 this season.
Carolina led 2-0 in the third, but the Pelicans came back with a run in the same frame while cutting the lead down to 2-1. A fielding error by Erceg helped allow the lone Myrtle Beach run to score in the third, but Erceg later made up for the misplay by catching Eddy Martinez at first on a slowly hit grounder to third to end the inning. Myrtle Beach had two bases loaded at bats in the third, but managed to score just the one run. 
The Mudcats had a 2-1 lead after the third, but later went up 3-1 when Max McDowell hit a solo home run to left off starter Mike Rucker. They also added two more runs in the fifth on Erceg's RBI double and then broke the game open with a five run seventh while going up 10-1.
Rucker (4-5, 2.47) suffered the loss for the Pelicans after allowing three runs on five hits over four innings pitched. He also walked one and struck out four. Jordan Minch followed in the fifth and gave up Erceg's two run double before later pitching through a scoreless sixth inning. 
Minch came back out for the seventh, but left quickly after issuing back-to-back walks to Wendell Rijo and Trent Clark before getting Corey Ray to hit into a force at second. 
Reliever Marc Huberman followed and went on to get Harrison to also hit into a potential force out, however, second baseman Trent Giambrone errantly threw wide of second on the Harrison grounder and the resulting error allowed both Rijo and Ray to score. 
Harrison made it to third on Giambrone's failed throw to second and a RBI single moments later by Erceg brought in Harrison from third. Cooper Hummel and Weston Wilson followed with singles and another error by Viamel Machin (on Wilson's infield hit to third) allowed both Erceg and Hummel to score.
Carolina led 10-1 after the seventh, but the Pelicans managed to score four late runs over the final two frames while cutting the lead in half. They rallied for one off Wuilder Rodriguez in the eighth and then scored three times off Nate Griep in the ninth while attempting to come back in the game. 
Rodriguez pitched through a total of two innings and allowed one run on three hits. He also walked two and struck out four. 
Griep finished the game, but in the process of wrapping it up allowed run scoring hits to Zack Short and P.J. Higgins before later allowing a home run to Jesse Hodges in the ninth.
The Mudcats took a 1-0 lead in the series and went up 8-7 in the overall season series with Friday's victory in Myrtle Beach. They finished the game 5-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left just four men on base in the game. The victory was their third straight and their seventh in their last nine games.
UP NEXT: The Mudcats and Pelicans will continue the three game series on Saturday night in Myrtle Beach with game two beginning at 7:05 p.m. Carolina will turn to starter Trey Supak (3-4, 4.81) for the game two start as they look for their fourth straight victory. The game will air on the Mudcats Radio Network, The Big Dawg 98.5 FM and online at carolinamudcats.com via TuneIn Radio. The game will also stream live via video on MiLB.tv.
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