Dowdy's ninth-inning single pushes Dash past Birds

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (July 7, 2015) - Jeremy Dowdy's two-run single broke a ninth-inning tie and drove the Winston-Salem Dash by the Myrtle Beach Pelicans 2-1 in Tuesday's series opener at TicketReturn.Com Field.

With the score tied at one in the ninth, Jake Peter greeted new Myrtle Beach (5-8, 46-36) reliever Dave Berg (0-1) with a single. Following a Trey Michalczewski walk, Keon Barnum laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance both runners into scoring position. With the infield in, Dowdy chopped a ball up the middle and past the pulled-in infield to plate both runs and give Winston-Salem the advantage.

Peter Tago (2-0) relieved Brian Clark, who went two scoreless, and worked the final two innings to earn the victory. All seven of the Dash's wins in the second half have been by two runs or fewer.

After a hitless contest Monday for the first time since June 18, Peter wasted no time in starting a new streak with a base hit in the first. Peter came around to score on Michalczewski's gap-shot double to put Winston-Salem on top 1-0.

The Dash (7-5, 37-45) nearly tripled their lead in the third. Peter singled with two outs just before Michalczewski crushed a ball to deep left field. However, Pelicans left fielder Pin-Chieh Chen reached over the wall to rob the homer and keep things at 1-0.

Winston-Salem starter Brandon Brennan recorded the first two outs of the bottom of the third quickly, but sandwiched a walk around two singles to load the bases. Brennan then issued a free pass to Jacob Rogers to turn the carousel and knot the score at one.

Neither starter factored into the decision, as Brennan surrendered one run on five hits in five innings. Myrtle Beach's Brad Markey went six innings of one-run ball in his first High-A start.

The Dash will send Robinson Leyer (3-6, 4.70 ERA) to the bump Wednesday against Myrtle Beach's Tyler Ihrig (0-0, 6.00 ERA). Pregame radio coverage is available at 6:50 p.m., with the first pitch at 7:05 p.m. on wsdash.com/broadcast and the TuneIn App.

After their three-game series in Myrtle Beach, the Dash return home for consecutive fireworks nights on Friday and Saturday. Friday's show is presented by Grand Rental Station, while Signs By Tomorrow Winston-Salem brings you Saturday's display. For tickets, call the Dash at (336) 714-2287 or visit wsdash.com.