Hudson, Upshaw lead Birds past Wood Ducks

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (April 20, 2018) - Austin Upshaw and Vimael Machin each homered, and Bryan Hudson pitched seven strong innings Friday as the Myrtle Beach Pelicans exploded early in a 7-1 victory over the Down East Wood Ducks from TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark. 
The fast start for Myrtle Beach (4-12) begin in the second inning. Upshaw blasted an opposite-field solo shot, his second of the season, to give the Birds a 1-0 lead. Upshaw finished the night with three RBIs after only having plated one on the year entering the contest. Connor Myers then reached on an error with two outs to ignite a rally. After an Aramis Ademan base hit, Andruw Monasterio singled home Myers and Jhonny Pereda later lined a two-run single against Wood Ducks (8-8) starter Michael Matuella (0-2) to cap a four-run inning for the Pelicans. 

Myrtle Beach made it 5-0 in the third with a sacrifice fly from Upshaw, but Down East (8-8) found the scoreboard in the fifth inning when Hudson (2-1) balked in a run.
Hudson fired five strong innings, only allowing the one run on three hits while tying a career-high with seven strikeouts, to earn his team-high second win this season. 
In the seventh, Vimael Machin blasted his second home run in as many nights, a solo shot, to extend the lead to 6-1. Upshaw added another sacrifice fly in the eighth to pad the lead at 7-1. 
Tyler Peyton and Jhon Romero combined to toss four shutout innings to finish off the game. The Pelicans' bullpen has now worked nine consecutive scoreless innings over the last four games. 
Game three of the four-game series against the Wood Ducks begins at 6:05 p.m. on Saturday. RHP Alex Lange (0-0, 3.00 ERA) is slated to start for Myrtle Beach while Down East will counter with RHP Walker Weikel (0-2, 12.00 ERA). Television coverage begins at 6:00 on The CW21 and MiLB.tv. A radio broadcast starts at 5:50 p.m. on MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/Broadcast, TuneIn and the MiLB First Pitch app. 
The first 1,000 fans out to TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark on Saturday will receive a Brian McCann Bobblehead Giveaway presented by Environmental Staffing. It is also Special Olympics Night featuring a jersey auction with proceeds benefitting the Horry County Special Olympics. Saturday is Star Wars Night as well and plenty of Star Wars characters will be at the ballpark. Embrace Hospice also presents Embrace A Veteran Saturday, where the Pelicans will honor all veterans at the game.
The 2018 season is the 20th season for the Pelicans franchise and fourth 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. The park 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 as well. In June 2017, TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark won the 2017 TripAdvisor.com Certificate of Excellence award. The Pelicans have 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 emailing [email protected].