CarL Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Mermen Erase Two Deficits to Win 11th Straight against Fireflies

August 27, 2021 - Carolina League (CarL)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


After trailing by five runs early in the game, the Myrtle Beach Mermen came back two separate times to win their 11th straight game over the Columbia Fireflies 9-8 on Thursday night. The win moves Myrtle Beach over the .500 mark at 50-49, while Columbia drops to 45-54. Thursday's game also paid tribute to season three of the show "Eastbound and Down", which was filmed at Pelicans Ballpark. The Pelicans came out as the "Myrtle Beach Mermen" with baby blue jerseys that were worn in the show.

Myrtle Beach racked up 15 hits for the game as six different players posted multi-hit performances. The Mermen were led by Owen Caissie (2-3, 2 2B, 2 RBI) who brought home the go-ahead run on a two-run double in the eighth. Jonathan Sierra (2-5, 2 RBI) also brought home two runs in the victory. The middle infield of Ed Howard (3-5, RBI) and Kevin Made (3-5, 2B, 2 R) accounted for six hits as Jordan Nwogu (2-5, RBI, R) and Peter Matt (2-4, 2 2B, RBI) also collected multiple hits.

Only three pitchers were used by the winning team as Jose Almonte (2-2) pitched three innings in relief with two earned runs off two hits while striking out five en route to the win. Gabriel Jaramillo picked up his fourth save of the year by tossing the final inning of the game.

The Fireflies turned nine hits into eight runs with Matt Schmidt (1-3, HR, 3 RBI) powering the lineup with a three-run home run in the second. Enrique Valdez (1-4, 2B, 2 RBI) also brought in two runs while Felix Familia (3-5, 2B, R) led the team in hits.

Taylor Bloye (1-2) blew the save and took the loss after allowing three runs to cross the plate in the bottom of the eighth. Kipp Rollings also came out of the bullpen and only recorded one out while allowing four earned runs off five hits to allow the first Myrtle Beach comeback.

Columbia started the game strong with five runs coming home in the top of the second. Saul Garza led off by reaching on a throwing error by Made to first base on a routine ground ball. Familia followed with a single as Garza reached third on a fielding error by Caissie. Valdez followed by smacking a double to center field that scored Garza and put runners on second and third. Mermen starter Manuel Espinoza struck out Jose Marquez but with first base open, Marquez reached on a wild pitch on the third strike as Familia scored. With runners on the corners, Schmidt launched a three-run homer to left for his third of the year as Columbia went up 5-0.

The home team got one back in the bottom half of the second as Caissie led off with a double to right field. He moved to third on a wild pitch by starter Rylan Kaufman and crossed home on an RBI groundout by Sierra.

Another run came in for the Mermen in the bottom of the fourth as Howard lined a single to right with one out. He moved to second on a balk two batters later and scored on Josue Huma's single to left to make it a 5-2 game.

The Fireflies tacked on a run in response in the top of the fifth as Burle Dixon led off with a single and stole second. He moved to third on a groundout and scored on a two-out single by Garza.

Myrtle Beach mounted their first comeback in the bottom half as Made doubled and Nwogu singled to start the inning. Nwogu took off to steal second as Garza's throw went wide into center field, allowing Made to score and Nwogu to move to third. Caissie drew a walk to put runners on the corners, and Sierra brought in his second run on a single to right to make it a 6-4 game. Matt followed with his first double to right that plated Caissie and moved Sierra to third. The Mermen tied the game 6-6 on Howard's RBI single that skipped into left field.

The Fireflies would respond with one run in the sixth and seventh innings to take the lead back. Almonte came out of the bullpen and gave up a solo homer to Marquez to left-center to put Columbia back in front in the top of the sixth. In the seventh, Valdez hit a sacrifice fly with runners on second and third to score Garza and extend the lead to 8-6.

The second Myrtle Beach comeback took place in the bottom of the eighth with Bloye coming out of the bullpen for Columbia. Christian Franklin drew a walk and Made singled for his third hit of the game. Nwogu followed with a base hit on a grounder to left that scored Franklin and made it a one-run game. With runners on second and third, Caissie ripped a double down the right-field line to score both runs as the Mermen took their only lead of the game 9-8.

Jaramillo walked one to put the go-ahead run at the plate but retired the following two batters to end the game.

The win marked the third time this season that Myrtle Beach has come back from a five-run deficit.

Myrtle Beach and Columbia will meet for the fourth game of the series on Friday at 7:05 p.m.

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Carolina League Stories from August 27, 2021


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