Pelicans Suffer Big Inning, Lose to Fireflies 7-2

By Sam Weiderhaft

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans lost another late lead by falling to the Columbia Fireflies on Friday night 7-2. Their third loss in a row dropped the Birds to a 26-34 record while the Fireflies improved to 33-26.

Carter Trice (1-1, HR, RBI, 3 BB) scored both runs for the Pelicans off a wild pitch and a solo homer. Jacob Wetzel (1-4, 2B) extended his on-base streak to 18 games with a double. Myrtle Beach went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

Yenrri Rojas (1-1) tossed three scoreless innings before allowing six earned runs in the top of the seventh to take the loss. Starter Nazier Mulé allowed one earned run and no hits through the first three innings with three walks and four strikeouts.

Columbia was led by Brennon McNair (1-4, HR, 3 RBI) on a three-run home run in the seventh. Derlin Figueroa (1-5, 2B, 2 RBI) brought home two on a double in the seventh as well. The Fireflies tallied five of their six hits in the seventh-inning explosion.

With three shutout innings out of the bullpen, Luis Polanco (3-1) grabbed the win while allowing just two hits. Starter Logan Martin sacrificed both earned runs while striking out five through five frames.

The Pelicans continued their trend of scoring first as they took the lead in the second inning. Trice advanced to third following his walk and later scored on a wild pitch by Martin.

Columbia tied it in the fourth as Dionmy Salon hit a sacrifice fly to center field that scored the runner from third to even the score.

Trice responded with two outs in the bottom half as he hit a solo home run to left field for his third of the season to put the Birds back on top.

The Pelicans had a chance to add to their lead, with the bases loaded and just one out in the bottom of the sixth. Ismael Mena grounded into a 1-2-3 double play to end the inning.

The Fireflies exploded for six runs in the top of the seventh to take the lead and run. With two on and nobody out, McNair hit a three-run homer down the left field line for his third of the season that put the Fireflies ahead 4-2. After a single and a walk, Figueroa doubled to left field to score both runs. He later scored on a two-out single by Erick Pena as the Fireflies left the inning up 7-2.

The series continued Saturday night with first pitch slated for 6:35 p.m.