Hilligoss' streak comes to an end

Mitch Hilligoss' South Atlantic League record 38-game hitting streak came to an end Sunday as visiting Charleston fell to Savannah, 3-2.

Hilligoss led off the game with a walk, grounded out in the third inning and again in the fifth, popped out in the seventh and grounded out in the ninth to force in Josue Calzado.

"I didn't swing the bat really well," Hilligoss said. "I had a chance at the end, but it just wasn't my day. It was probably time to end. Sometimes you have to be lucky rather than good."

The 21-year-old third baseman batted .359 (60-for-167) with four doubles, a triple, a homer, 30 runs scored and 17 RBIs during the streak. He fell two games shy of tying the 40-game run of Frosty Kennedy of Plainview (1953) and tied Hubert Mason of Binghamton (1925) and Paul Owens of Orleans (1951) for the 16th-longest hitting streak in Minor League history.

Streaking in the Minors
The longest hitting streaks in Minor League history:
# 69 61 55 50 49 49 46 44 43 43 43 42 42 40 40 38 38 38 37 37	Player Joe Wilhoit Joe DiMaggio Roman Mejias Otto Pahlman Jack Ness Harry Chozen Johnny Bates Jim Oglesby Eddie Marshall Orlando Moreno Howie Bedell Jack Lelivelt Herbert Chapman Lorenzo Gray Frosty Kennedy Mitch Hilligoss Paul Owens Hubert Mason Joey Cora Bobby Trevino	Team (League) Wichita (WL) San Francisco (PCL) Waco (BSL) Danville (III) Oakland (PCL) Mobile (SA) Nashville (SA) Los Angeles (PCL) Milwaukee (AA) Louisville (AA) Big Spring (LHL) Rochester (IL) Gadsden (SEL) Edmonton (PCL) Plainview (WT-NM) Charleston (SAL) Orleans (PONY) Binghamton (EL) Las Vegas (PCL) El Paso (TL)	Year 1919 1933 1954 1922 1915 1945 1925 1933 1935 1961 1947 1912 1950 1982 1953 2007 1951 1925 1989 1969

"The last week I was thinking about it a little bit and I guess it affected me," Hilligoss said. "It was exciting to have, something I can look back on in a couple of years."

Savannah starter Matt Durkin (2-2) allowed one run on three hits while striking out six and walking four in six innings. Ryan Meyers notched his seventh save, despite giving up a run on two hits in the ninth.

Francisco Pena's run-scoring groundout in the fourth snapped a 1-1 tie for the Sand Gnats (17-39). Joe Holden, who went 3-for-3, followed with a solo homer, his second.

Shortstop Eduardo Nunez committed three of Charleston's four errors.

RiverDogs starter Ivan Nova (3-2) surrendered three runs -- two earned -- on five hits in six innings, striking out one and walking two. Ferdin Tejeda scattered two hits in the final two innings for the RiverDogs (29-27).