Pelicans Blast Three Homers, Drop Friday’s Game with RiverDogs 7-6

By Sam Weiderhaft

After holding a lead through six innings, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans lost Friday night 7-6 to the Charleston RiverDogs in the fourth game of the series. The Pelicans dropped to 52-61 and 23-24 in the second half. The RiverDogs improved to 58-57 and 31-19 in the second half. The series is tied 2-2.

For the fourth night in a row, Cam Smith (3-4, HR, 2B, RBI) hit a home run to become the first Pelican since 2006 to homer in four straight games. Jose Escobar (2-4, HR, 4 RBI) led the Pelicans with a three-run home run and an RBI single. Owen Ayers (1-3, HR, RBI, BB) also hit his first professional home run on a solo shot in the fourth.

Connor Schultz (0-1) took the loss after allowing three runs, all unearned in his three innings. Starter Nazier Mulé sacrificed just one earned run through the first 3 1/3 frames.

Connor Hujsak (2-4, HR, 3 RBI) delivered the game-winning home run on a three-run shot in the bottom of the seventh with two outs. Adrian Santana (1-4, 2 RBI) also provided two runs on a single in the bottom of the fifth.

Friday’s win went to Gerlin Rosario (2-1) with one earned run through two relief innings. Alexander Alberto shut the Pelicans out in the final inning with one strikeout to earn the save.

The Pelicans and RiverDogs meet on Saturday night at 6:05 p.m. for the fifth game of the series.