Silva and Feliciano Mash Mudcats to 7-3 Series Opening Victory at Myrtle Beach

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - Mario Feliciano went 4-for-5 with a two-run homer in the seventh, Eddie Silva went 2-for-5 with a solo shot in the fifth and Matt Smith earned his first win of the season as the Mudcats opened a three game road series in Myrtle Beach with a 7-3 victory versus the Pelicans on Tuesday night at TicketReturn.com Field.

The Mudcats (11-8) scored twice in the first and led 3-0 in the third before the Pelicans (6-13) rallied for runs in the third and fourth to get within one. That was as close as they would get though as Silva and Feliciano took over while combining to drive in four runs between the fifth and seventh to put Carolina on top for good.
The two run second included a run scoring single from Devin Hairston, while the one run third featured a run scoring double from Feliciano. Tristen Lutz singled and scored on Feliciano's double in the third and had two hits in the game. The double for Feliciano, meanwhile, was his first of four straight hits for Carolina on Tuesday night.
It was 3-0 Mudcats' lead in the third before the Pelicans came back with a run off Carolina starter Drew Rasmussen in the third and another against Matt Smith in the fourth while cutting the Carolina lead to 3-2. 
Rasmussen pitched through two and 2/3 innings in his second start of the season with Carolina and allowed a run on two hits before reaching 49 pitches and leaving the game. Myrtle Beach's Carlos Sepulveda knocked Rasmussen out of the game with a sacrifice fly (the result of a 10 pitch at bat) that scored Zach Davis in the third. Davis had started the inning with a triple to center and went 2-for-3 in the game.
Reliever J.T. Hintzen eventually took over with two outs in the third and got of the frame, despite walking one, with the Mudcats leading 3-1. Smith (1-1, 3.00) went on to follow and, in all, allowed a couple of runs on four hits over four innings pitched. He also walked one and stuck out one while reaching 55 pitches (31 strikes) and earning the win.
Silva later extended the Carolina lead to 4-2 in the fifth with a solo home run off starter Bryan Hudson, before giving the Mudcats a 5-2 lead in the sixth with a run scoring single off reliever Tyler Peyton. Hudson (1-1, 4.43) struck out three, walked two and allowed four runs on seven hits while taking the loss. Peyton allowed a run on one hit, walked one and struck out three in the game.
Feliciano then stretched the lead to 7-2 after connecting on his two-run blast off reliver Brian Glowicki in the seventh. It was his fourth and final hit of the night as Feliciano became the first Mudcat to total four hits in a game this season.
Ben Hecht worked the final frame for the Pelicans and totaled two strikeouts against one walk in a scoreless ninth. Michael Petersen, meanwhile, pitched the last two frames for Carolina ended up tossing two scoreless frames with two walks and three strikeouts.
With Silva and Feliciano connecting on their home runs, the Mudcats saw their streak of consecutive games with a home run stretch to eight straight. The road win was also Carolina's second straight overall and lifted them to 3-2 in their current seven game road trip. 
UP NEXT: The Mudcats and Pelicans will continue their current three game series on Wednesday night at 7:05 p.m. in Myrtle Beach. The game will begin at 7:05 p.m. at TicketReturn.com Field. The game will air live on the Mudcats Radio Network, the Big Dawg 98.5 FM and online at carolinamudcats.com via TuneIn Radio.  
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