CarL1 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Pelicans In Position For Sweep With 4-3 Victory

Published on May 10, 2008 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


WILMINGTON, DE - The Pelicans again jumped to the lead and relied on the depth of their bullpen to arrive in victory lane as they held off the Blue Rocks, 4-3, Saturday night at Frawley Stadium in Wilmington.

The victory nets the Pelicans their eighth consecutive series victory and affords them the opportunity for their first series sweep in Sunday's matinee series finale.

The Pelicans again got on the scoreboard first, plating the game's first run in the second inning. Rocks' starter Matt Kniginyzky walked Ernesto Mejia to start the inning before conceding a single to Brandon Powell that moved Mejia to third. Concepcion Rodriguez grounded into a double play, but Mejia scored on the play to give the birds a 1-0 lead.

They tacked on two more in the third, as again Kniginyzki found quick trouble. Robert Marcial led off the inning with a double down the left field line and scored a batter later on a Brandon Hicks' double to the same spot. Willie Cabrera followed with a double over the head of right fielder Jarrod Dyson to plate Hicks and give the Pelicans a 3-0 advantage. All things considered, things could have been much worse for Wilmington, as the Pelicans pounded out five hits in the frame and made two-of-three outs in the inning on the basepaths.

Wilmington shaved the lead to one in the bottom of the fifth inning. Dyson led off with a single and advanced to third on an ensuing single from Wilver Perez. Perez then broke for second and as Tyler Flowers threw to shortstop Hicks, the speedy Dyson charged in to score from third. A walk to Brett Bigler followed and Derrick Robinson singled to load the bases. Chris McConnell bounced a ball that trimmed the lead to a single run, scoring Perez.

Myrtle Beach added a run to lead 4-2 in the eighth inning, but Wilmington responded with an unearned run in the bottom of the inning to pull back within a lone run. Kevin Gunderson came on with two outs and a man aboard to retire the final four batters of the ballgame in order to preserve the victory and collect his league-best ninth save.

Kniginyzky (0-4) was hit with the loss after permitting the Pelicans first three runs in 3 1/3 innings. Gonzalo Lopez earned his second consecutive victory for Myrtle Beach, limiting the Blue Rocks to two runs in six innings.

Mejia extended his personal hit streak to 12 games with a single in the ballgame, while Marcial was 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles in the Pelicans' victory.

Big news came down during the ballgame that Pelicans' right-handed ace Tommy Hanson has been promoted to Double-A Mississippi following the ballgame and will be scheduled to make a start for the M-Braves on Tuesday. Hanson leaves the Pelicans after dominating over the first month of the season. Hanson was first in the Carolina League in ERA at 0.90, while posting a record of 3-1.

Hanson was scheduled to start the series finale against the Blue Rocks at 1:35 PM. Instead, RHP Chris Vines (1-0, 0.53) will make his first start against RHP Jason Godin (2-1, 4.85) for Wilmington.

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Carolina League Stories from May 10, 2008


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