Pearson, Short homer in twin bill split

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (August 4, 2017) - Tyler Pearson and Zack Short both homered for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans in the final game of Friday's doubleheader against the Salem Red Sox, as the teams split the twin bill with the Birds winning the finale by a final score of 4-1 following an 11-6 loss in game one from TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark. 
With one out in the top of the first inning in game two, Jeremy Rivera reached on a bunt single before advancing to second on a wild pitch. Austin Rei followed Rivera with a walk before Rivera came in to score on an error by the Pelicans (58-53, 15-26) as the Red Sox (63-48, 23-19) jumped out to a 1-0 advantage. 

Kyle Miller (3-3), though, was fantastic for Myrtle Beach, as the right-hander hurled five innings and did not allow an earned run.
With one out in the bottom of the second, Eddy Martinez singled to right field before Pearson socked his two-run homer  to give Myrtle Beach the 2-1 advantage. 
Short blasted the Pelicans' second home run of the contest with a solo shot to left field, extending the Birds lead to 3-1 in the fifth inning.
Myrtle Beach tacked on their final run of the contest in the sixth inning when Adonis Paula dumped an RBI single into right field to plate Martinez, who had reached on a walk. That made the score 4-1. 
Scott Effross slammed the door shut, as the right-hander tossed two scoreless frames while whiffing three en route to his fifth save of the season. 
Salem kicked off the scoring in game one against Myrtle Beach starter Thomas Hatch . Jose Sermo led off the frame with a walk before advancing to second base on a base hit from Conrad Gregor. Mike Meyers continued the rally for Salem as he brought home Sermo with an RBI double to left field. Jhon Nunez made it three straight hits for the Red Sox by driving home Gregor and Meyers with a base hit to center field. With Nunez on second base, Victor Acosta singled to left, putting runners on the corners before Nunez advanced home on a double play to give Salem a 4-0 lead. 
Austin Rei led off the third inning for Salem with a base hit before advancing to third on a double from Sermo. Gregor recorded his second hit of the contest with a single to right, scoring Rei. With one out in the frame, Nunez doubled home Sermo to make the score 6-0.
Both P.J. Higgins and Viamel Machin drew walks in the bottom of the third inning before both runners scored on a Martinez three-run home run that cut the Red Sox lead in half to 6-3. 
Jesse Hodges doubled to begin the bottom of the fifth inning before advancing to third on a single from Machin. With one out in the frame, Tyler Alamo , who registered three hits, reached on an infield single that brought home Hodges to make the score 6-4. Robert Garcia followed Alamo with infield single to load the bases for the Pelicans. Connor Myers recorded the Pelicans' third straight infield single, allowing Machin to score to bring the Birds within one. Short then lifted a sacrifice fly to knot the tally at six. 
With the contest tied at six, Myrtle Beach and Salem needed extras to decide the game. 
In the top of the eighth, Nunez led off the frame with a ground rule double. Acosta reached on a fielder's choice for the Red Sox, which put runners on the corners with nobody out. Nick Lovullo brought home Nunez with a sacrifice fly double play. Chris Madera reached second on a throwing error before scoring on a single from Rivera. A wild pitch by David Berg (0-2) pushed Rivera to third before Rei walked. Sermo notched an RBI single before Gregor recorded a two-run double to widen the margin to 11-6.
Red Sox reliever Adam Lau (3-6) finished off the Pelicans by tossing a scoreless seventh and eighth inning to pick up his third win of the season. 
With the doubleheader split, Myrtle Beach is now 7-7 in doubleheaders in 2017.
Myrtle Beach and Salem will play game three of their four-game set on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. The Pelicans will send LHP Ryan Kellogg (3-7, 5.52 ERA) to oppose LHP Matt Kent (7-4, 3.91 ERA). Television coverage begins at 7 p.m. on The CW21 and MiLB.tv. A radio broadcast starts at 6:50 p.m. on MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/Broadcast, the MiLB First Pitch app and TuneIn.
Saturday's contest will feature a special Postgame Fireworks Extravaganza presented by East Coast Pyrotechnics.
The 2017 season is the 19th season for the Pelicans franchise and third as the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. For information on tickets to see the Pelicans in 2017, 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 six seasons. The same publication also placed the Pelicans in the Top 100 Stadium Experiences in all of sports in each of the last six years and the best in the Carolina League for six 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 two-time defending Mills Cup Champions, winning the title in 2015 and 2016 as well as 2000 and co-Mills Cup championship honors in the inaugural 1999 season. The Pelicans have made ten postseason appearances behind 12 half-season Southern Division championships, including the first half of the 2015 season and second half of 2016. For more information on the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, please contact the Pelicans at (843) 918-6000 or emailing [email protected].