Swarmer, early offense lead Birds to third straight win

Pelicans score eight runs in first three innings in 8-3 victory

Matt Swarmer pitched six shutout innings in Sunday's win over Down East. (Larry Kave/Myrtle Beach Pelicans)

By Zach Bigley

April 22, 2018

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (April 22, 2018) - The Myrtle Beach Pelicans exploded for eight runs in the first three innings and Matt Swarmer was brilliant on Sunday night in an 8-3 victory over the Down East Wood Ducks from TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark. The win was the Birds' third

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (April 22, 2018) - The Myrtle Beach Pelicans exploded for eight runs in the first three innings and Matt Swarmer was brilliant on Sunday night in an 8-3 victory over the Down East Wood Ducks from TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark. The win was the Birds' third straight, which marks a season high.
Myrtle Beach (6-12) started the first inning with five consecutive hits against Wood Ducks (8-10) starter Christian Torres (1-2) from D.J. Wilson , P.J. Higgins , Jhonny Pereda , Wladimir Galindo and Tyler Alamo . Pereda and Alamo drove in runs while Pereda scored on an error and another run scored on a double play to give the Birds a 4-0 lead.

In the second inning, the Pelicans added another run on an error before Pereda smacked a two-run single to make it 7-0. An Aramis Ademan RBI single in the third inning increased the advantage to 8-0.
Down East finally found the scoreboard in the top of the seventh with two runs off of reliever Elvis Diaz. The Wood Ducks added an unearned run in the ninth.
Swarmer (1-2) fired six shutout innings in the win, only allowing four hits and striking out seven while not walking a batter. Jordan Minch was strong out of the bullpen as well, tossing two innings and only yielding one unearned run. The southpaw struck out a career-high five batters.
After winning the series 3-1 over the Wood Ducks, the Carolina League will take Monday off. RHP Keegan Thompson (0-2, 5.65 ERA) is slated to start Tuesday's 7 p.m. contest for Myrtle Beach in the first game of a three-game set on the road at Carolina. The Mudcats will counter with LHP Nathan Kirby (0-1, 6.43 ERA). Coverage starts at 6:45 p.m. on MyrtleBeachPelicans.com/Broadcast, TuneIn and the MiLB First Pitch app.
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].