Pelicans clinch playoff spot with 2-1 win in 10
ZEBULON, N.C. (August 24, 2016) - Andrew Ely's go-ahead double in the 10th inning helped the Myrtle Beach Pelicans clinch their sixth consecutive postseason berth by beating the Carolina Mudcats 2-1 Wednesday at Five County Stadium.
Myrtle Beach's (73-55, 37-21) run is currently the longest active streak in the Carolina League. The Pelicans will play the Salem Red Sox in the Southern Division Championship Series beginning on September 7.
With the score tied at one in the top of the tenth, David Bote singled up the middle before Ian Rice walked two batters later. After Jeffrey Baez popped out, Ely came through with two outs to give the Pelicans the lead.
Leading by one in the bottom of the tenth, Tanner Murphy singled for Carolina (45-83, 16-42) before Braxton Davidson walked to push him to second. After a sacrifice bunt, the Mudcats had runners at second and third with one out. Pelicans reliever Daniel Lewis (4-0) issued a wild pitch to the backstop, on which catcher Tyler Pearson fielded the carom and threw out the potential tying run at the plate. Lewis then got Jordan Edgerton to fly out to center to seal the win.
With the score 0-0 in the top of the fourth, Myrtle Beach left fielder Charcer Burks drew a walk against Mudcats starter Wes Parsons. After Burks advanced to second on a wild pitch, Bote singled to right to score Burks and give the Pelicans a 1-0 lead.
With Myrtle Beach still leading 1-0 in the bottom of the fifth, Luis Valenzuela singled with one out before Keith Curcio drew a walk to push Valenzuela to second. Travis Demeritte followed by lining a single into left to score Valenzuela and tie the game at one.
That would be all that Pelicans starter Preston Morrison would allow. The right-hander surrendered just one run over five innings, striking out five in the process.
Pelicans relievers Erick Leal and Tommy Nance combined to work 3.1 innings of shutout baseball, before Lewis got Myrtle Beach out of a jam in the ninth.
The Pelicans will go for the sweep of Carolina Thursday night at 7 p.m. RHP Jonathan Martinez (11-6, 4.10 ERA) takes the ball for Myrtle Beach, against RHP Caleb Beech (2-8, 4.52 ERA) of the Mudcats. Coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. on MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/broadcast, the MiLB First Pitch App, TuneIn and MiLB.tv.
The 2016 season is the 18th season for the Pelicans franchise and second as the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. For information on tickets to see the Pelicans in 2016, please call (843) 918-6000, e-mail [email protected], or visit www.MyrtleBeachPelicans.com.
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. The park has ranked in the top eight in all of Minor League Baseball by Stadium Journey in each of the last five seasons. The same publication also placed the Pelicans in the Top 100 Stadium Experiences in all of sports in each of the last five years and the best in the Carolina League for five straight seasons as well. In May 2015, TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark won the 2015 TripAdvisor.com Certificate of Excellence award. The Pelicans are the defending Mills Cup Champions, winning the title in 2015 as well as 2000 and co-Mills Cup championship honors in the inaugural 1999 season. The Pelicans have made nine postseason appearances behind 11 half-season Southern Division championships, including the first half of the 2015 season, as well as five Southern Division titles, most recently in 2015. For more information on the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, please contact the Pelicans at (843) 918-6000 or emailing [email protected]