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CarL1 Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Walk-Off Magic Continues in 14th for Pelicans

July 19, 2011 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Myrtle Beach Pelicans News Release


MYRTLE BEACH, SC - Another night, another dramatic extra-inning victory for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. Ryan Strausborger's two-run homer in the bottom of the 14th capped a long and wild night as Myrtle Beach beat the Wilmington Blue Rocks 6-4 to equal a season high with their sixth straight win Tuesday at BB&T Coastal Field. Three of the six victories have come in walk-off fashion.

The Birds walked off in extras on consecutive nights on Friday and Saturday to finish a four-game sweep of the Salem Red Sox and after a 10-1 win on Monday, the Pelicans pulled off another one in their longest home game, in innings, this year. The current six-game streak matches the one the Pelicans ran up from April 15-20 with sweeps at Lynchburg and at home against Winston-Salem.

After a rousing rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" by official scorer Steve Walsh in the 14th-inning stretch, the Pelicans got a rally started against Blue Rocks reliever Dusty Odenbach (2-2) with a one-out single from Jared Bolden. The man who hit the Birds' first game-ending home run of 2011 in the 13th inning on Saturday would score on the second, as Strausborger launched a no-doubter well over the left field wall.

Myrtle Beach never led until Strausborger's blast, coming back from early deficits of 3-1 and 4-3. As it has been throughout the winning streak, the Pelicans got phenomenal performances out of the bullpen as Trevor Hurley, Joe Ortiz, Zach Osborne and Ryan Kelly combined for eight shutout innings to finish the game. Hurley worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the seventh with the Birds still down a run to keep it close for a comeback.

The Pelicans would tie it in the seventh when Bolden lifted a sacrifice fly to left to score Jared Hoying. After Hurley tossed a perfect eighth, Ortiz put up zeroes in the ninth, tenth and 11th, stranding a pair in his last frame. Two infield singles put the go-ahead runs aboard in the 12th against Zach Osborne, but the righty wriggled out of trouble in that inning and in the 13th when he left two on. Ryan Kelly (3-4) retired the Rocks in order in the 14th to pick up the win.

The Myrtle Beach bullpen has now compiled a string of 23 and one-third consecutive scoreless innings, with nine hurlers contributing to the streak.

On the other side, Wilmington posted six scoreless innings from the eighth to the 13th. Tim Melville loaded the bases with one out in the eighth, but kept the score tied. After a 1-2-3 ninth, Bryan Paukovits put up goose eggs in the tenth and 11th, stranding the winning run 90 feet away after Santiago Chirino reached third with one out.

The Pelicans seemingly had it won against Paukovits in the 13th when Vinny DiFazio ripped a liner to left center that looked like it would bring in Bolden with the winning tally. Tim Ferguson made a spectacular diving catch in the gap to leave DiFazio stunned at first base and extend the contest.

The game started as a pitcher's duel between Pelicans southpaw Miguel De Los Santos and Blue Rocks righty Elisaul Pimentel. The two Dominican hurlers, both born on July 10, 1988, traded zeroes for the first three frames before seven combined runs were tallied against them in the next two and a half innings.

With three more hits, Bolden had his seventh straight multiple-hit game to lift his average to .298. The top two hitters in the Wilmington order, Whit Merrifield and Kurt Mertins, both notched three hits in the loss.

The third game of the series is set for Wednesday night as right-hander Wilfredo Boscan (3-6, 4.50) goes for the Pelicans against Wilmington righty Michael Mariot (5-2, 3.25). First pitch at BB&T Coastal Field is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Tickets for all Pelicans home games are available at the BB&T Coastal Field box office, MyrtleBeachPelicans.com, and by phone at 843-918-6000 or 877-918-TIXX.

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