Pair of homers lifts Myrtle Beach over Winston-Salem

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (June 25, 2019)- The Myrtle Beach Pelicans mashed a pair of two-run homers and downed the Winston-Salem Dash 4-3 on Tuesday night from BB&T Ballpark. 

Winston-Salem (2-4, 40-30) waisted no time getting to Pelicans' (1-5, 22-51) starter Paul Richan (W, 7-3) in the first inning. Tyler Frost led the inning off with a single on the first pitch from Richan and after a walk to Mitch Roman, Steele Walker unloaded the bases with a three-run homer that gave the Dash a 3-0 lead.
Richan went on to retire the next 13 batters that he faced and quieted the Dash hitters across five innings for the Pelicans.
Myrtle Beach found the scoreboard in the fourth when Luke Reynolds launched a two-run homer to right off of Kade McClure (L, (1-1) to cut the Winston-Salem lead to 3-2.
The Pelicans added to their lead in the sixth inning when Cam Balego blasted a two-run shot to left that staked the Birds to a 4-3 lead.
After a pair of scoreless innings from Manny Rondon, Ben Hecht entered in the eighth and retired the final six to lock down his fourth save of the season in the Birds 4-3 win over Winston-Salem.
The Pelicans will look to win the series on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. LHP Ryan Kellogg (1-5, 3.95) will take the hill for the Birds against LHP Konnor Pilkington (1-2, 5.28) for the Dash. Coverage starts at 6:45 p.m. on MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/Broadcast and the MiLB First Pitch and TuneIn Apps.
The 2019 season is the 21st season for the Pelicans franchise and fifth 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. Since being acquired by a group led by Chuck Greenberg during the 2006 season, the Pelicans have repeatedly set team attendance records and become known as one of Minor League Baseball's most innovative and creative franchises. The team and its employees have been dedicated to making a difference in the Myrtle Beach community, specifically giving back over $2 million in donations, fundraising proceeds, in-kind services and community service since launching the Pelicans Play It Forward Community Initiative in 2013. TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark 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. In June 2017, the Pelicans won the 2017 TripAdvisor.com Certificate of Excellence award. On the field, the team has 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 email [email protected].